New York state regulators are investigating the algorithm used by Apple Card to determine the creditworthiness of applicants after the credit card was accused of being biased against women.
David Heinemeier Hansson, a prominent software developer, called the Apple Card a “f—ing sexist program” after his wife was denied an increase in her credit limit. Hansson said his wife, Jamie Hansson, had a better credit score than him and other factors in her favor that should have allowed her a limit increase.
“My wife and I filed joint tax returns, live in a community-property state, and have been married for a long time. Yet Apple’s black box algorithm thinks I deserve 20x the credit limit she does. No appeals work,” he tweeted Thursday.
Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, said he was given a credit line 10 times that of his wife, despite the couple sharing bank and credit card accounts.
The same thing happened to us. I got 10x the credit limit. We have no separate bank or credit card accounts or any separate assets. Hard to get to a human for a correction though. It’s big tech in 2019.
— Steve Wozniak (@stevewoz) November 10, 2019
The card, launched as a partnership between Apple and Goldman Sachs in August, is now under scrutiny by the New York Department of Financial Services.
An official said the department would investigate whether the algorithm used to determine credit limits violates state laws.
“Financial services companies are responsible for ensuring the algorithms they use do not even unintentionally discriminate against protected groups,” superintendent Linda Lacewell said.
#NewYork law prohibits discrimination against protected classes of individuals. Therefore, @NYDFS will examine whether the algorithm used to make these credit limits decisions violates state laws.
— Linda Lacewell (@LindaLacewell) November 10, 2019
Financial services companies are responsible for ensuring the algorithms they use do not even unintentionally discriminate against protected groups. @NYDFS will take a look. @GarethRhodes @GoldmanSachs @AppleCard https://t.co/8GMfT4Rrz3
— Linda Lacewell (@LindaLacewell) November 9, 2019
Hansson said his wife got a “VIP bump” to match his credit limit a day after he complained about the matter. He urged regulators to contact the women who had shared similar experiences with him on Twitter.
“My thread is full of accounts from women who’ve been declared to be worse credit risks than their husbands, despite higher credit scores or incomes,” he said.
