It seems strange to me that a number designed to measure risk has nothing to do with it. If this were really true, a smart bank would come along with their own

It seems strange to me that a number designed to measure risk has nothing to do with it. If this were really true, a smart bank would come along with their own score and undercut it. They have many years and many millions of data points that connect credit scores with repayment of loans. Banks that do a better job of measuring it get wealthier. It's a very simple system.