You better think hard about who you want to be Facebook friends with these days. Especially now that CNN Money reported on Aug. 26 that your Facebook buddies can affect your credit score.
Now that might seem a little unfair, because come on, what do your friends know about your loan-paying habits? Apparently a lot.
Tech startups are starting to use social data in place of credit scores and your interactions are weighed heavily. Lenddo, for example, can tell if you're friends with someone who has made late payments on loans. If you are, it's not looking great for you, but it's even worse if you interact with the person on the regular.
In an even more invasive process, Kreditech can determine exactly how you fill out your application and rank you on it. All caps or no caps? You'll get docked a few points. Filling out your application at the library, coffee shop or bar? If your wi-fi location doesn't match your listed residential address, there’s a few more points gone. Didn't take the time to read about the loans? Sorry man, it's not looking good for you.
However, users could easily manipulate which friends they keep on Facebook and what they're tweeting if they really have the mind to try. Their credit score could not change as easily based on whims, so this lending process could be a bit dangerous. The Inquisitr also brings up how ethical this method is, basically saying it’s fair as humans have demonstrated how they group with like-minded people.
So far Lenddo is only available in Mexico, the Philippines and Colombia but CNN Money notes that Lenddo as well as similar companies are looking to break into the mainstream relatively soon.
via Examiner National Edition Gadgets & Tech Channel Articles http://www.examiner.com/article/companies-are-using-social-data-to-determine-your-credit-score?cid=roadrunner