New York Regulator Finds No Fair Lending Violations on Apple Card Applications

By Maria Armental

The New York State Department of Financial Services said it found no evidence of discrimination in applications for a credit card launched by Apple Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. but stressed the need to update credit-scoring models and antidiscrimination laws on credit access.

"While we found no fair-lending violations, our inquiry stands as a reminder of disparities in access to credit that continue nearly 50 years after the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act," said Linda Lacewell, superintendent of financial services.

The department's investigation, which followed public scrutiny after Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said his wife had received significantly different credit-card terms than his, reviewed underwriting data for about 400,000 Apple Card applications in the state of New York, along with a series of interviews and records and written responses from Goldman Sachs Bank and Apple.

The department said the investigation found that for all consumers who reported concerns about their Apple Card credit "evidence showed that those decisions were explainable, lawful, and consistent with the Bank's credit policy."

However, the department said, deficiencies in customer service and a perceived lack of transparency undermined consumer trust in fair credit decisions.

The department in a report released Tuesday said that Goldman Sachs and Apple had since taken steps to improve transparency and help denied applicants improve their credit. The companies, it said, had also modified a policy that previously required approved applicants to wait six months before appealing credit terms, such as credit limits and annual percentage rates.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2021 16:59 ET (20:59 GMT)

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