This is a big mess.
In the ridiculous, ubiquitous, growing, and out-of-control worldwide discussion about credit scores, some know what they are talking about, and some don’t.
And some should. Employers are not permitted to check credit scores. At least that’s what it says (verbatim) on Credit.com.
Well, eventually that’s what it said.
However, recently, riffing on a silly (and inaccurate) story in a fabulously New Yorky newspaper, the actual chairman and co-founder of Credit.com appeared on something called the Daily Ticker. The Ticker is a video thing, and has a studio and everything (here’s your 15 minutes of fame, Yahoo!)! The rambling host said, “So we know it can affect whether or not you can get a loan–clearly, your credit score–or, even, to get a job–now, possibly, whether or not you can get a date or a second date maybe–more importantly–or a partner, for that matter.”
Phew.
That disjointed blather starts at 50 seconds into the video. In response, the interviewee was silent regarding the interviewer’s inaccurate setup. The guest didn’t bother to set the confused host straight.
Guilt by association? Abso-flippin-lutely. And lest you think that this is unfair to the guest–the guy from Credit.com–here are his words (verbatim) in a piece preceding the video screed on Yahoo!:
Apparently, the new normal involves both sides of the dating equation coughing up credit score information heretofore considered sacrosanct except in economic transactions. It’s no longer about getting a job, buying a house, car, cell phone or insurance, nor is it about renting an apartment, or anything else — and it’s not personal. Wait, I guess it is… According to several interviews conducted by the Times, if you don’t have the right score, you may well be shown the door.
Credit scores, relatively speaking, have not been around very long. The FICO score was first seen in 1989, but consumers were not given direct access until 2001. Bank accounts, however, have been around a few decades longer, but there doesn’t seem to be any trend for swapping bank statements on dates.
What’s more important: Your qualifications to take on more debt or how much money you have?
But, stop the virtual press! Not only is the interviewer the host of that little video show, he is the actual editor-in-chief of Yahoo! Finance! (!) Hokey smokes! Now we’re getting somewhere! (!) If he can’t make a correction, who can?
If only he–He, as He sits atop of the great Mount Yahoo!–gets the word, we can start to make some progress. The efficacy of a social media message is in question. But–hold on. Hold on a cotton-pickin’ New York Times minute. Maybe there is something better. Yahoo (!) is using (!) an ancient, long-forgotten medium of communication (!) called “email” (!). At the bottom of the story, it says: “We’d love to hear from you! Send us an email [!] at thedailyticker@yahoo.com.”
Yes, please send them email. They’d just love it. And social media messaging doesn’t work.
Terrible, terrible, terrible! What’s the world coming to? “Twitter.” “Yahoo!” “Times.” With names like that, how seriously can you take this grand discussion? But, hang on. Just. Another. Dad-blasted minute. Dude. This is different. Think about it in terms of top-level domains. Credit.com owns the word credit.
If, by the time you read this, the video disappears, don’t worry. That delicious piece of nonsense has earned a place in the next employers/credit score video coming to a screen near you.
Yahoo!
Powerful.
Blithering.
Non-responsive.
Inaccurate.
But, the myth is not their fault.