Inaccurate photos, lazy pickup lines and outdated references to The Office are all mainstays on Tinder, Hinge and Bumble profiles these days.
But, increasingly, the apps are also rife with… people’s credit scores?
Yes, really: It’s become a trend for folks to share their credit scores on Tinder, Hinge and the like, usually by posting a screenshot from FICO alongside the requisite photo with a baby and photo with a dog. But while the latter two indicate you’re good with kids and love animals, respectively, boasting about your TransUnion 810 might not send the message you think it does.
“It’s not something I would ever let one of my clients do,” says Eric Resnick, an online dating and profile writing expert.
Quick reminder: A credit score is a three-digit number from 300 to 850 used by lenders to evaluate a prospective borrower’s credit worthiness, or likelihood of paying them back. Credit scores are usually based on factors like payment history, debt levels, length of credit history and mix of accounts.
In that sense, it’s conceivable someone would want to share their credit score on their dating profile in order to convey their financial savviness (and vet that of others), says Sarah Darr, head of financial planning at U.S. Bank.
“It’s important to understand and end up in a relationship with someone who shares the same values, lifestyles and habits [as you],” she adds. A credit score on your profile can demonstrate your financial priorities: “You’re trying to say ‘it’s important to me and I’ve worked hard at this,’ because earning a strong credit score is not something that happens overnight.”
Research backs this up. A 2015 study from the Federal Reserve found that people in committed relationships tend to have credit scores that are “highly correlated” with their partners’, and couples with bigger score gaps at the beginning of their relationship are more likely to break up than those with smaller gaps. The higher their credit scores, the more likely folks were to get, and stay, together.
But a high credit score doesn’t tell the full story of someone’s financial history.
Not only do credit scores vary depending on which entity is calculating them, but they also leave folks without thick credit files — aka loans — at a disadvantage, all but forcing consumers to take on debt if they want to appear “worthy.” (In fact, often credit scores go down when someone pays off a big loan.)
Credit scores are so touchy that the financial industry as a whole is moving away from them as a measure of borrower quality. So “to use that as a defining characteristic as to whether you should or should not get to know someone [on a dating app] seems a little bit shortsighted,” says Resnick, founder of ProfileHelper.com.
Julie Guntrip, Jenius Bank’s head of financial wellness, has similar hesitations.
She points out that credit scores are backward-looking. For instance, late payments can stay on your credit report for up to seven years; bankruptcies can linger for up to a decade. That’s a long time, especially if you’re young.
“It’s a reflection of your financial behavior in the past, not necessarily in the present,” Guntrip says. “You may be on a totally different path today,” so is your credit score really an effective way to evaluate your current compatibility with someone?
While you may see your high score as a flex, Resnick warns that choosing to define yourself by your credit score in your first interaction with a potential partner has pitfalls. For one thing, there’s no way for them to know whether you’re telling the truth.
Adding a credit score to your profile can come off as defensive and condescending — it may feel like you’re trying to set a bar for the other person, similar to writing “don’t bother if you’re under 5’10.” Guntrip compares it to putting your college GPA on your adult resume.
Resnick says dating profiles are meant to give prospective partners a sense of who you are and start a conversation… not to prove your value.
Including a screenshot of your credit score on your profile might even narrow the field, which is a risk in itself.
“If financial health is the first and only thing you’re looking at in terms of choosing a partner, then sure,” add it, he says. “But it’s going to turn off people who aren’t built that same way.”
While financial compatibility is crucial in a relationship, putting a credit score on your dating profile has more cons than pros. For most people, there are better ways, and better times, to bring up money while dating.
“I’ve met very few people who look at a man or woman and say, ‘Oh my God, I heard [s]he’s an 800,'” Resnick adds.
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