Apple Card, Goldman Sachs Under Investigation For Gender Discrimination Complaints

Apple Card is under fire for alleged gender discrimination. After Twitter was rocked by those charges regulators stepped in promising a probe on Goldman Sachs that is administering the card for the alleged gender dividing algorithm.

The allegation was raised by prominent tech entrepreneur David Heinemeier Hansson who wrote that Apple Card offered him twenty times more credit limit than his wife despite their shared assets and a higher credit score.

Wondering how his credit line could be 20 times higher and he dubbed Apple Card as a “sexist program” using an expletive in the twitter post.

Hansson also updated that the Apple customer service told his wife that they are not entitled to discuss the credit assessment process.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak Hansson also came up with a similar experience and added that Apple told him that credit limits are determined by an algorithm.

“Some say the blame is on Goldman Sachs but the way Apple is attached, they should share responsibility,” Wozniak said.

Launched with fanfare in August, Apple Card has the backing of Mastercard and Goldman Sachs. Using the card, consumers can pay for goods and services online and in the Apple store and other stores. Launched onto the competitive market of credit cards dominated by Best Buy credit card, Home Depot card, and others, Apple card was inducted as the “digital-first” credit card.

The allegations suggest that the credit limit of potential applicants seeking Apple card is decided by artificial intelligence.

Regulator promises probe, Goldman denies

Reacting to the complaint, a spokesman for Linda Lacewell, the superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services said the department will be “investigating to determine whether New York law was violated” and assured all consumers will be treated equally regardless of sex.

“Financial services companies are responsible for ensuring the algorithms they use do not unintentionally discriminate against protected groups,” Lacewell said on Twitter.

Goldman spokesman Andrew Williams, denying the allegations, said: “our credit decisions are based on a customer’s creditworthiness and not on factors like gender, race, age, sexual orientation or any other basis prohibited by law.”

In the retail financial products front of Goldman, Marcus Goldman Sachs is a direct bank for personal loans. But the Marcus nomenclature is also famous for Neiman Marcus, the American chain of luxury department stores.

The gender discrimination charge is also haunting social media giant Facebook and a legal challenge is also looming.

In the realm of advertisements for loans and insurance coverage, it was alleged that the Facebook platform targeted away from women and older people in the past three years.

Apple stock was up 0.27 percent in the last trading session of November 8 while Goldman Sachs stock was down 0.17 percent.