What your e-mail address says about your credit score
Filed under: Credit, Technology
E-mail addresses can tell people a lot about you.
Your username, or what's in front of the @ symbol can tell potential employers, dates and associates about your political affiliations, year of birth, what school you went to and even your affinity for elf culture.
Did you know that what comes after the @ sign can be more revealing than your cleverly chosen username?
A new trend report published by Credit Karma ranks e-mail domains by the average credit score of Credit Karma users. The data shows that BellSouth and Comcast users have the highest ratings, perhaps because they come with a paid Internet service.
Gmail comes in third, leading the pack of free e-mail services with an average credit score of 681, which is close to the average credit score for 45-54-year-olds and the average credit score for California, Oregon and Washington state.
On the other side of the credit score chasm are e-mail users from Yahoo (640), Hotmail (660) and AOL (660) who share their average credit score with a younger crowd. Yahoo users' low 640 average credit score is in line with the average score for 18-24 age range with Hotmail and AOL users' average score matching that of 35-44 year-olds in a survey of average credit score by age at Credit Karma.
These similarities do not mean that these age groups are representative of the domain, simply that they share an average score. As Mashable notes, it is more likely that younger users favor e-mail addresses like Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail for the messaging services which are attached to them and their low credit scores bring down the average.
So what does this mean for all of you Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL users? Probably not a whole lot.
As Credit Karma points out, "Certainly switching e-mail providers will not increase or decrease your credit score."
It's far more likely that the 80% of singles who are more selective about who they date will judge you based on your e-mail address than a bank or employer will. Take note singles; if you're looking for a creditworthy catch you may want to ask for their e-mail instead of their phone number.
Your username, or what's in front of the @ symbol can tell potential employers, dates and associates about your political affiliations, year of birth, what school you went to and even your affinity for elf culture.
Did you know that what comes after the @ sign can be more revealing than your cleverly chosen username?
A new trend report published by Credit Karma ranks e-mail domains by the average credit score of Credit Karma users. The data shows that BellSouth and Comcast users have the highest ratings, perhaps because they come with a paid Internet service.
Gmail comes in third, leading the pack of free e-mail services with an average credit score of 681, which is close to the average credit score for 45-54-year-olds and the average credit score for California, Oregon and Washington state.
On the other side of the credit score chasm are e-mail users from Yahoo (640), Hotmail (660) and AOL (660) who share their average credit score with a younger crowd. Yahoo users' low 640 average credit score is in line with the average score for 18-24 age range with Hotmail and AOL users' average score matching that of 35-44 year-olds in a survey of average credit score by age at Credit Karma.
These similarities do not mean that these age groups are representative of the domain, simply that they share an average score. As Mashable notes, it is more likely that younger users favor e-mail addresses like Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail for the messaging services which are attached to them and their low credit scores bring down the average.
So what does this mean for all of you Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL users? Probably not a whole lot.
As Credit Karma points out, "Certainly switching e-mail providers will not increase or decrease your credit score."
It's far more likely that the 80% of singles who are more selective about who they date will judge you based on your e-mail address than a bank or employer will. Take note singles; if you're looking for a creditworthy catch you may want to ask for their e-mail instead of their phone number.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-21-2009 @ 7:49AM
Joker said...
I completly disagree with these numbers, I am a yahoo.mail user and have beent since before the othe email companies list were started. I know for a fact the my credit score is hight then what is even list. Who ever did this, ought to be slapped silly for being so stupid as to base ones credit score on thier email address, how ridiculous, and unterly absurd
Reply
10-20-2009 @ 12:14PM
Josh Smith said...
It's simply the average credit score of users on Credit Karma. It isn't saying that your credit score is low because you have a yahoo address. Just that as a whole their credit scores are lower.
10-20-2009 @ 12:56PM
jhnatsgc said...
Ha Ha Ha! This article is so full of crap. Hey Josh, I have some prime ocean front beach property for sale in Atlanta Georgia.
Reply
10-20-2009 @ 2:37PM
mtrronan said...
like wow i have had aol since 98 when aol was a paid account hmmm they really need to rething there B.S on this i am willing to bet there are alot of us out there and belive me i am older then 44 lol
Reply
10-20-2009 @ 2:59PM
kevin Finnerty said...
Who has credit any more since Obamy took over the country....
Reply
10-20-2009 @ 8:19PM
Jim said...
This news will now come in the mail in the form of a letter from your insurer and credit card company advising that because of adverse information (ISP), your insurance rates will be increased, your interest rates will be increased, your credit limit will be lowered, your bank will post a 'stop in and bend over' sign on the door, and your government will tell you that it's all good.
Reply
10-20-2009 @ 8:19PM
MANUEL said...
What your e-mail address says about your credit score-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the most IDIOTIC article I read in years.
Who can believe this stupid poll?
Reply
10-21-2009 @ 11:11AM
nick said...
WHo should care about credit anymore since Obama took office the country will be in socialist disrepair soon if everything is controlled by the government help us all . We will be spending our whole lives for state and federal employees to get stuff done!!!!!!!!! We are screwed
Reply
10-21-2009 @ 11:11AM
dewey phillips said...
they say you get a free credit report, but you have to have a credit card or you dont a report this is false advertising.
Reply
10-23-2009 @ 8:18PM
John said...
Get your free credit report at http://annualcreditreport.com.
Totally free!
John Forbes
http://CreditRecoveryHelp.com
10-24-2009 @ 2:34PM
King David said...
What a crock of Sh#t!!!!!!! I hope someone sues these morons into oblivion!!! Anyone who makes a determination as to my worth based on something as mundane as an e-mail address is looking for a serious fight!! This is like saying that if you spend time with a person of any color, or a particular religion, or a certain culture that you're "LIKE THEM, THAT YOU HAVE A TENDENCY TO DO WHAT THEY DO", and all other sorts of prejudice!!! As I said, "What a crock of Sh#t"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply