Banks using social media to assess loan applications

The headline says it all.

Employers are already using Facebook to 'assess' potential candidates, and apparently the big banks are using the same measures to 'assess' loan applicants. According to this academic:

Laurel Papworth said banks will look at your friends' Facebook profiles and ask questions like: 'Have they paid their loans recently?'; 'Are they taking expensive holidays?'; 'What suburbs do they live in?'

She said they look at your friends, your family, your whole 'tribe' and then might say, 'mmm, they look a bit risky.'

abc.net.au

Really? surely the big banks have to draw a line in the sand between privacy and revenue. Or they could do this:

Starting next year Mastercard will be buying Facebook big data, analysing it and selling it to banks.

Initially it will be for pushing products, but who knows where it will end? Laurel Papworth said lenders in 36 countries are now using Facebook data as part of their tools for approving or rejecting loan applications.

Apparently a solid credit rating is not enough anymore. Now the company you keep is part of the criteria, and if the company you do keep happen to be 'financial undesirables' then expect a letter of rejection.

It's a lose-win situation, and guess who loses. What if you are not an avid social media user, will you be rejected by default? and why should a loan applicant be denied due to the company they keep?

Ms Papworth offered one final insight:

She adds that it is going to be very tricky for people to escape their place in life, which they will find very confronting.

What a joke. Zuckerberg's baby makes a fortune and yet can stop someone from getting a loan for Aunt Agnes' funeral. I wish I could say that I'm surprised but I'm not.

Doesn't surprise me in the slightest, my last employer was known to check up on people's facebook pages and snoop around. My facebook profile is kept completely private to those not on my friends list, they cannot see any activity, photo's or any of my friends either. Not sure how that works if a bank has bought data from facebook itself.

Just goes to show that dirty laundry goes in the washer not on facebook.

So how do they deal with the masses that believe in privacy?

well thankfully it's not mandatory (yet) to be a part of any social network.
I don't agree with this practice in the slightest, like most people here i am sure, so just don't have a profile.
I got rid of most of mine, and i've just been better off, now let's hope they don't monitor ATS as well

If this comes into practice here then my facebook page is going bye bye. Seeing a pic of what my neighbor had for tea or countless droning posts about people's girlfriend/boyfriend troubles just isn't worth being spied on.

originally posted by: Iamthatbish
So how do they deal with the masses that believe in privacy?

Simple- they'll just deny you a bank loan.

Believing in privacy is obviously anti-american (I mean, just look at how the american government treats its citizens), and therefore makes you a terrorist.

Terrorists don't do credit applications to borrow a fiat currency- they simply make their own.

I'm talking to you, central banks.

a reply to: lordcomac

Sad. I've posted this before but, I've actually had to argue that I don't have an fb.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

I don't have one, either.
Currently, it's actually getting in the way of my finding a better job- because as soon as any prospective employer tries to look me up, they don't have immediate access to everyone I know, everywhere I go, how I interact with friends, and what I had for breakfast.
Sad world...

But I stand by what I said- banks can deny you a loan for any reason- but if you try to stop giving banks a portion of your labor with every transaction, they'll have you put away.

Bad slave. Go to work, Pay your taxes, and put your personal life up for display to every corporation that wants it.

Great I have a perfect 999 credit rating but my mates are all dead beats......guess I need new friends


Well to be fair my Facebook is locked so only certain people can see.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

I see a trend developing...

Doesn't surprise me in the slightest, my last employer was known to check up on people's facebook pages and snoop around

longy9999

Currently, it's actually getting in the way of my finding a better job- because as soon as any prospective employer tries to look me up, they don't have immediate access to everyone I know, everywhere I go, how I interact with friends, and what I had for breakfast. Sad world...

lordcomac

It's ridiculous. Every job I've had came from word of mouth and who I know, and now who I know could cost me a job in the future, and now it could cost me a loan as well. But where will it end? could folks life insurance claims be compromised because their Facebook friends aren't registered with the same company?

Burying your savings in the backyard doesn't seem so crazy now.

Using social media to assess you is a surprise? People that want to know what you are thinking love the internet. They don't have to get you to take tests to analyze who you are. They just gather your content and test that.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Burying your savings in the backyard doesn't seem so crazy now.

You're telling me.

originally posted by: longy9999
If this comes into practice here then my facebook page is going bye bye. Seeing a pic of what my neighbor had for tea or countless droning posts about people's girlfriend/boyfriend troubles just isn't worth being spied on.

Great sentiment but it's too late. You can't delete your Facebook. It's not actually yours

Oh yeah- didn't you get the memo?

You can disable them, but not delete them. It's pretty insane, come to think of it- almost everyone you know puts all of their personal information into this system voluntarily- it automatically links you with everyone you've ever met, and then makes the information more available to prying eyes than yourself. It's used to figure out all sorts of neat metrics about you- what kinds of things you buy, where you go, what you might be interested in... all sold to the highest bidder (and of course, given to the government for free)

And the people sit down in front of it for hours every day. They love it.

What a world.

I don`t have a facebook and I don`t want one, I reckon I`ll never be able to get a loan and that`s fine by me. Believe it not you can actually survive and prosper without selling your soul to the banksters.