3 ms·

From what I understand about the US, it is mainly to get better credit rating. This is apparently the most important social score in American society... Note t

From what I understand about the US, it is mainly to get better credit rating. This is apparently the most important social score in American society... Note to Americans: In European countries this tends not to be a thing afaik. Privacy is taken more seriously, so there is no central & privatized system to query for credit. However, to rent an apartment, get a loan or get a new job here in Switzerland it's often required to provide something like a credit register extract from the local government office. That register will get notified when someone isn't paying bills, usually after the third notification ~2 months after a bill was issued (notifying the register is costing fees, so businesses try to avoid it as much as possible). After a couple of years, entries get deleted. This way there is an attempt of balancing privacy, social mobility and the interest of businesses to collect their revenue.

edwintorok 6y ago
Not just the US, the UK has credit scoring too, there I think 3 credit scoring agencies. When I moved here from Europe the entire notion of credit card and credit scoring was new to me. I still use my debit card whenever possible though, just spending enough on the credit card to avoid getting it cancelled due to not using it.
aequitas 6y ago
Similar to what we have here. Only I don't think it common they check your credit score for a job application. Only when you want a new loan (mortgage, credit card, buy on credit, etc). You can also query the information yourself and see who requested access to it in the past months.
- m_mueller 6y ago
  where is here, the US you mean? but the way I understand it, those credit score agencies are private, and their info is much more granular. e.g. it would never matter in CH and pretty much all of Europe, how much you already spent and payed off on credit in the past.

edwintorok 6y ago

Not just the US, the UK has credit scoring too, there I think 3 credit scoring agencies. When I moved here from Europe the entire notion of credit card and credit scoring was new to me. I still use my debit card whenever possible though, just spending enough on the credit card to avoid getting it cancelled due to not using it.

aequitas 6y ago

Similar to what we have here. Only I don't think it common they check your credit score for a job application. Only when you want a new loan (mortgage, credit card, buy on credit, etc). You can also query the information yourself and see who requested access to it in the past months.

m_mueller 6y ago
where is here, the US you mean? but the way I understand it, those credit score agencies are private, and their info is much more granular. e.g. it would never matter in CH and pretty much all of Europe, how much you already spent and payed off on credit in the past.