Score, the Dating App for Credit-Worthy Singles, Returns with a New Mission
'Score' is back, but this time, it's not just about finding love; it's about building a community that prioritizes financial responsibility.'
Two years ago, Luke Bailey had a controversial idea: a dating app called Score, designed for individuals with good to excellent credit scores. The app's premise was simple: encourage partners to discuss personal finance, a topic often avoided in relationships. Bailey believed that financial compatibility is a crucial relationship factor, yet no dating platform addressed it directly.
Launched just before Valentine's Day, Score required users to have a credit score of at least 675 to register. While it faced criticism for its classist approach, the app gained traction, attracting 50,000 users and making headlines worldwide. However, after six months, it disappeared, leaving the dating world wondering what happened.
Now, Bailey is bringing Score back, and this time, it's here to stay. He explains, 'We wanted to integrate financial responsibility into something people deeply value - love. But when we shut it down, we assumed the conversation would continue without us. It didn't.'
The new Score will be available on the iOS App Store, offering two tiers: a basic tier for browsing and connecting without ID or credit verification, and a verified tier where members must verify their ID and credit score to access premium features. The app uses Equifax to verify both identity and credit scores, ensuring a soft pull that doesn't impact credit.
Bailey emphasizes that Score doesn't store sensitive data or sell personal information. Instead, it focuses on measuring consistency and reliability, factors that banks look for in customers. He believes that financial behavior is a strong predictor of life stability and that compatibility algorithms should reflect this.
The app's last iteration gathered valuable data on its users, revealing socioeconomic differences between generations. For instance, millennial men had credit scores 11% higher than women, but Gen Zers showed a much smaller gap. Bailey plans to continue monitoring this data, aiming for a global expansion starting with Canada and exploring partnerships along the way.
