Dueling Reports, and Women: They’re Better Credit Risks Than Men. Or Not.
A Tale of Two Studies
Once again, this week’s news cycle in the world of credit and finance gives us a fascinating glimpse into how varied the metrics are of credit card reporting to women vs men credit card usage, to the degree that two different studies can came out at the same time, each claiming different conclusions about how women use credit cards.
Experian’s Findings: Women On Top
An Experian report, cited by CNBC, states that “when it comes to managing credit, American women have a slight edge over men.” The report found that while women still earn (shockingly!) 23 percent less than men, “they knew how to handle debt.” By which they meant: “they may spend and shop, but women also pay their bills well. They are doing more with less.”
The Economic Climate and Gender
Whether “less” is a good thing, given the present economic climate, went unremarked. Also note that average credit score difference was only a single point in favor of the fair folk, but their conscientious bill-paying gave them that edge.
NextAdvisor.com’s Contrasting View
On the other hand, as reported by “Harvard Business review“, report shows that “4 Behaviors That Can Land You in a Credit Card Debt Trap”
A Mixed Bag of Financial Behaviors
At least, that’s how they make out their findings with its mixed bag of behaviors — i.e., slightly more women paying late fees and making minimum payments, yet more men using cash advances and carrying somewhat higher average debts, as well.
The Bottom Line on Credit Scores
On the other hand, when one looks at the “bottom line” used by Experian, the “go banking rates” report showed that “the average credit score for a woman is 682 compared to the average score for a male of 675,” so it’s several points higher! So even when women are portrayed as not doing well at handling credit, they’re still actually doing better than men. Which may get us into that pay-gap differential, but we digress.
Empowering Customers with Payment Options
As your own customers continue to explore their payment options — credit, eCheck, gift cards, whatever — be sure to offer them as many ways to stay flexible (especially if they’re working on those credit card scores) — while still paying!
The Future of Credit Reporting
Sure, they may show up as a statistic in a future “credit by gender” report. But more importantly, you’ll be keeping them happy, and keeping their business.
