The US version is a system that calculates the risk of loaning money vs being paid back. In order to be approved for a loan the credit score is used to evaluate whether or not it is likely to be paid back within the terms of the loan. As a result those with bad credit have trouble getting favorable terms for cars, housing and basically anything that can’t be purchased outright. Does it negatively affect people for things outside of their control and perpetuate cycles of poverty? Absolutely, but it is based in actual fiscal risk to calculate sustainable loan practices.
China on the other hand took the US term of “credit” and abused the everloving shit out of it to punish people that the government dislikes. Did your cousin post a Xi Jinping Winnie the Pooh meme? Well too bad that you were shopping for a house, because your “credit” is no longer high enough to not be homeless. You should have thought of that before you were related to someone who disagreed with the government!
Not being able to demonstrate to a bank that you are financially reliable enough to pay back a loan is unfortunate, but a rational reason for an unfavorable interest rate or denial of a loan. Making people ineligible for even renting an apartment that is within their financial means because the dictator in charge dislikes you is a completely different thing altogether.
ozymandias117@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Yeah, just the American version
Diprount_Tomato@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Love how everyone went insane with the social credit score while you got the same shit done to you and no one batted an eye
plz1@lemmy.world 10 months ago
US credit score won’t get you sent to jail or a re-education camp, at least. At least, not yet.
Diprount_Tomato@lemmy.world 10 months ago
It will condem you to poverty tho
Powerpoint@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
It can impact everything in your life, even jobs and housing now. It’s practically the same thing except instead of being forced to live in a camp you’re living on the street.
Dran_Arcana@lemmy.world 10 months ago
My favorite part is when one of the three companies that does ours leaked all of our data with relatively no consequences.
www.ftc.gov/…/equifax-data-breach-settlement
Arbiter@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Well if it’s the free market abusing us it’s okay. That’s just freedom.
hamsammy@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I mean it’s not like your credit score immediately gets affected for something like jaywalking though.
Dran_Arcana@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I’m not sure that’s entirely the bar we should be aiming for
misanthropy@lemm.ee 10 months ago
It can even impact being hired for jobs. Low credit score? You might be untrustworthy or motivated to steal
Gigan@lemmy.world 10 months ago
It’s not comparable at all. In the US your credit score only goes down if you borrow money and don’t pay it back. If you get a loan and pay it back on time your credit score will be fine.
I’m not super familiar with the Chinese credit system, but I think it’s effected by a lot more. What kind of products you buy, how much you work, posting certain content online, etc.
scarabic@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Yes these systems are not in any way whatsoever comparable to each other except in being reputation rating systems.
“What? A bank wants to know if you defaulted on the last loan you took? What is this?? Totalitarian China???”
Norgur@kbin.social 10 months ago
Not only American. We in Germany have shit like that and most other European nations have it as well afaik
otter@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
It exists in most places from what I can tell, but the specific implementation may differ
jantin@lemmy.world 10 months ago
The technology of loan risk assessment? Yes, it exists worldwide, all banks are doing it. But there is a wide chasm between
“when I show up asking for a loan bank will xray all my previous financial history and craft its offer from that” in Europe (at least my country) and
“credit score is a houshold term, people employ lifehacks to improve it and you’re screwed if it’s bad because half of everything runs on credit”.
fubo@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I don’t have a credit score, and have never had a problem renting. It’s getting a mortgage that I can’t do without a partner who’s been consistently paying off a credit card for decades.
ozymandias117@lemmy.world 10 months ago
My credit score want good enough, so I had to give the last place I rented 6 months of my employers payments to rent
I’ve never missed a payment, nor do I have any debt. I just don’t exist in the system enough to rent