There is longstanding debate over whether the algorithms that drive the credit scoring system are racially biased.
Joanne Gaskin, vice president of scores and analytics at credit-scoring company FICO, says the firm doesn’t use age, address, employment, income, gender or race in generating their scores.
“The fact that race is not factored into the credit score is perhaps the greatest opportunity we have to help people of color level the playing field,” Lowitz said.
When her clients learn how the credit system works, many are angry that they did not have the information earlier, she says.
“We meet people who have been beaten down by the system,” Lowitz said. “In some cases, we are contradicting their parents and grandparents who have told them to stay away.”