- Goldman Sachs spokesperson Andrew Williams has confirmed that the Apple Card approval does not have a gender bias
Over the weekend, a tweet went viral by Basecamp founder and CTO David Heinmeier Hansson about the Apple Card. Hansson said that the Apple Card offered him 20 times the credit limit than his wife even though they have shared assets and she has a higher credit score. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak also said he had a similar experience as he received a credit limit 10 times more than his wife even though they share all assets and accounts. So now the New York Department of Financial Services is going to look into gender discrimination allegations against Apple Card users — which is overseen by Goldman Sachs.
“I’m a current Apple employee and founder of the company and the same thing happened to us (10x) despite not having any separate assets or accounts. Some say the blame is on Goldman Sachs but the way Apple is attached, they should share responsibility,” wrote Wozniak in a tweet.
Hansson contacted Apple to fix the situation, but he was told that the credit limits were determined by an algorithm.
“Financial services companies are responsible for ensuring the algorithms they use do not even unintentionally discriminate against protected groups,” tweeted New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent of Financial Services Linda Lacewell.
When CNN reached out to an Apple spokesperson for a comment, they were directed to Goldman Sachs. And today Goldman Sachs issued a statement saying that the credit scores are individually calculated.
“As with any other individual credit card, your application is evaluated independently. We look at an individual’s income and an individual’s creditworthiness, which includes factors like personal credit scores, how much debt you have, and how that debt has been managed. Based on these factors, it is possible for two family members to receive significantly different credit decisions. In all cases, we have not and will not make decisions based on factors like gender. Finally, we hear frequently from our customers that they would like to share their Apple Card with other members of their families. We are looking to enable this in the future,” said Andrew Williams managing director of Corporate Communications at Goldman Sachs.
