Valentine’s Day can mean different things to different people: a celebration of love, a reminder of heartache and, for some users of a new dating app, a cause of financial headaches.
A new app, Score, is a “dating app for people with good credit” that requires users to have a score of 675 and above to join.
A credit score of 675 and above is considered good to excellent by most financial institutions.
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The company behind the new app states that users will not see the credit score of other users. Their credit information will only be used to qualify potential users for the app.
“We need to take the conversation to areas where finance isn’t traditionally discussed,” Luke Bailey, co-founder and CEO of Neon Money Club, told TechCrunch. “Before you can educate people, you need to get their attention. With Score, we’re bringing the conversation to dating.”
“We decided to ask one question: ‘What should the minimum credit score be for someone you’re dating?'” Bailey said. “That question later became Score.”
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“There needs to be more awareness about the doors that can be opened with a good credit history,” Bailey added.
The new app comes as 25% of couples say that money is the biggest challenge in their relationship.
Fidelity Investments’ biennial Couples & Money Study released in February found that while 9 out of 10 couples said they communicate well, more than 45% admitted privately that they argue with their significant other about finances at least on occasion, and 1 in 4 pointed to money as the greatest challenge in their relationship.
Other dating apps are also experimenting with financial barriers to entry for users.
Tinder has been opening up a new “exclusive membership” that comes with a sizable monthly price tag for those who are invited to apply and get approval from the dating app.
The Tinder Select membership requires a monthly fee of $499, according to multiple reports. For 12 months, that would wind up being nearly $6,000.
