LOS ANGELES–More than two-thirds of more than 1,600 consumers surveyed believe there is racism and bias present in the financial system and credit scoring system, according to Zest Ai, a provider of AI-powered underwriting software, which conducted the survey.
“The financial services industry has struggled for years to achieve more equitable outcomes in lending practices and, while many banks are realizing that legacy methods of measuring creditworthiness aren't working,” Zest AI said in releasing the findings.
The Findings
Among the findings in the survey:
- 68% of Americans believe the financial services industry at least sometimes treats customers differently based on race and gender.
- Millennials feel particularly passionate about the issue, with 74% believing the financial services industry at least sometimes treats customers differently based on race and gender.
- 40% of people overall believe racism is at least somewhat built into the credit scoring system, but that number jumps to 55% among Millennials.
- 41% of those surveyed either knew nothing at all about FICO's scoring system and how each score is calculated or were not very familiar with it.
- 55% of respondents believe the government should allow for more competition in credit scoring methods.
But Not Here
The survey found, however, that many consumers have a more positive outlook on their own bank than the financial system overall, with only 45% saying their bank at least sometimes treats people differently based on race and gender, according to Zest AI.
“Consumers tend to have a blind spot when it comes to their bank. While more than two-thirds of consumers believe the financial services industry treats customers differently based on race and gender, they feel better about their own bank,” the company said.
The finding held true across age demographics, including Millennials. The survey was conducted on behalf of Zest AI by Toluna. The survey comprised more than 1,600 respondents across a variety of age demographics.
Yes, FOMO is Very Real in this Case!
Don’t forget to check your Spam/Junk email folder if you haven’t been receiving your free, popular and daily CUToday.info news headlines.
And if you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time.
CUToday.info has received very positive response from readers following the move to an improved provider of the daily headlines, but many also noted they did need to go to their Spam/Junk folder and mark it as safe.
The new email solution has not only improved every reader’s delivery experience, but it also features a fresh, new format that is easy to read, especially on mobile devices.
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com