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How Deadbeat Facebook Friends and Using ALL-CAPS Can Lower Your Credit Score

McGruber writes "CNN has the news that some financial lending companies claim that Facebook social connections can be a good indicator of a person's creditworthiness. One company determines if you are friends with someone who was late paying back a loan; if so, that is bad news for you. It is even worse news if the delinquent friend is someone you frequently interact with. Another company gathers information from the manner in which a customer fills out the online loan application. The chances of getting a loan improve if you spend time reading information about the loan on their website. Conversely, if you fill out the application typing in all-caps (or with no caps), you are knocked down a couple pegs in that company's eyes. A third lender requires that small business borrowers grant them access to the borrowers' PayPal, eBay and other online payment accounts (what could possibly go wrong with that?), thereby disclosing real-time sales and delivery information."

12 of 362 comments (clear)

  1. WHAT?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    HOW DOES I GET CREDIT CARD?

  2. Easy solution by stewsters · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is why I friend corporations. It balances out the financial status of my real friends.

  3. If you don't have facebook account... by sinij · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you don't have Facebook account, banks conclude you are a sociopath and offer you CEO job.

  4. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by lightknight · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Bank of America wishes to be friends with you. Do you accept their request?"

    --
    I am John Hurt.
  5. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by mrclisdue · · Score: 5, Funny

    The problem is, how do you know whether the bank even uses that as a metric?

    Well, if it's an American Bank, they haven't even switched to metric yet....

    ....I'm maintaining eye contact and backing away slowly....

  6. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Funny

    You join a club quilting club

    They make equipment for pillow fighting?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  7. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by pluther · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... people with enough real life to not have time for facebook. . .

    I love how people keep claiming they have a life and therefore don't use social networks... on Slashdot.

    --
    If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
  8. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 3, Funny

    Damn, where are my mod points?

    Facebook sold them all to BoA.....

    --
    "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
  9. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot is an unsocial network. Thank you very much.

    Now, get off our lawn.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  10. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot is really more of an antisocial network.

  11. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by bdwebb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your FB friends are not trustworthy and therefore /. has restricted your access to the moderation system.

  12. Re:Kind of a warning sign actually by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 3, Funny

    I love how people keep eating at Wendys and therefore don't eat at McDonalds.

    I love how people who don't eat at McDonalds keep telling everyone how they don't eat fast food ... if you can understand them around the mouthful of Wendy's.

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.