Within months a major British bank will start using personality tests as part of its decision making about whether or not to lend to individuals.
Its the latest and most extreme application of hi-tech psychology in finance.
For decades lenders have based their decisions on the reams of data held on file about each of us: our addresses, financial![]()
relationships with other individuals, existing debts and credit facilities, and so on. But this new psychometric testing provides another level of insight altogether.
Its intimate, allowing lenders to form an idea of how we would be likely to behave in certain scenarios. It tests our work ethic and, according to the firm that pioneered it, London-based VisualDNA, it assesses our humility.
Do you feel you have a right to material goods such as cars and expensive TVs? Or do you feel you have to earn and afford these things? asks one of the firms directors, in explaining the type of information the test elicits. Not everyone has a credit score, but they do have a personality.
Its the latest and most extreme application of hi-tech psychology in finance.
For decades lenders have based their decisions on the reams of data held on file about each of us: our addresses, financial
relationships with other individuals, existing debts and credit facilities, and so on. But this new psychometric testing provides another level of insight altogether. Its intimate, allowing lenders to form an idea of how we would be likely to behave in certain scenarios. It tests our work ethic and, according to the firm that pioneered it, London-based VisualDNA, it assesses our humility.
Do you feel you have a right to material goods such as cars and expensive TVs? Or do you feel you have to earn and afford these things? asks one of the firms directors, in explaining the type of information the test elicits. Not everyone has a credit score, but they do have a personality.