SelfScore launched its first product last summer with relatively little fanfare: a credit card for international students. 。
On Tuesday, it launched a new card with a much higher spending limit in a very different political climate. Its credit cards serve international students from all over the world --including the seven countries (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia) named in President Donald Trump's first travel ban, which was halted in court.。
SelfScore uses analytics to provide access to credit to international students in the United States who don't have a Social Security number or other identifying factors usually required to gain access to credit, loans and financial aid.。
"These people who have so many credentials and indicators of creditworthiness, the traditional system doesn’t see them. They’re invisible," said Pat Nicholson, SelfScore's vice president of marketing. 。
SEE ALSO:India wants to make credit and debit cards obsolete for payments 。
SelfScore instead relies on machine learning and data to assess eligibility and creditworthiness, without needing the traditional FICO score. The startup considers education, future earning potential and other qualitative factors to show how someone who's ineligible for a credit card from a traditional bank would contribute to the economy when granted access to credit in the United States. 。
"The traditional system doesn’t see them. They’re invisible." 。
The startup introduced its first credit card, a MasterCard with a $1,500 limit, in June. This week it added to the lineup a second card with a $5,000 limit. The cards build credit so that international students still in school now will have the foundation needed to buy a home, for example, in a few years. 。
Other fintech startups are finding ways to serve potential customers without FICO scores, too. Float, for one, uses similar measures to grant small, short-term loans to cover things like broken laptops and music festival tickets. Those micro-loans can also build credit for young customers.。SEE ALSO:New fund puts $141 million toward digital finance in the developing world 。
For right now, SelfScore is still only serving international students. But financial products that serve people without Social Security numbers could have much wider applications: for new immigrants besides students and for the undocumented, for example. 。
(责任编辑：休閑)
Mall builds realRupert Grint transforms into a hustler for Crackle's 'Snatch'
Google Maps will soon be able to find your parked carU.S. bans laptops and iPads on airlines from multiple countriesWhat brands need to know about virtual realityFake news reports from the Newseum are infinitely better than actual news
Actual investigative journalism: who needs it?At least, that's what some people will likely conclude
...[详细]Ed Sheeran reveals 'Love Yourself' could have been a NSFW Rihanna jam
It's not too late to do this song properly, Riri. 。During a SiriusXM interview with Howard Stern, Ed
...[详细]4 Nintendo Switch accessories you'll want to get right away
Buying a new video game console is almost never an all-in-one proposition. There are always "optiona
...[详细]For Twitter's 11th birthday, they just gifted the world with Periscope Producer API
Live video on Twitter's about to get a bit more professional. On the occasion of its 11th birthday,
...[详细]Despite IOC ban, Rio crowds get their political messages across
The Olympics aren't meant to be a place for political expression -- the International Olympic Commit
...[详细]Clever dude masterfully Photoshops himself into every Best Picture Nominee poster
Just because the Oscars ended doesn't mean the Oscars 。 content 。has to. Reddit user Gmadjar ended our
...[详细]There are too many damn iPads to choose from now
Apple's lost control of its product line. The company now offers 17 different iPads thanks to a new
...[详细]NASA just found a long-lost spacecraft orbiting the moon.。 The Indian Space Research Organization's
...[详细]Watch MTV's Video Music Awards 2016 livestream
It's MTV Video Music Awards night. Are you ready?Kanye's going to be there, and he's going to say th
...[详细]Donald Trump is killing Meals on Wheels and it's a serious problem
Put impaired veterans, elderly shut-ins and those who cannot leave their homes on the long list of A
...[详细]Nate Parker is finally thinking about the woman who accused him of rape
Lady Gaga pulls off the perfect prank on 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' and we're ded
