Score, the dating app for people with good credit, is back

Two years ago, Luke Bailey had what quickly became a controversial app idea — a dating app called Score for people with good to excellent credit.

The app launched just days before Valentine’s Day and required users to have a credit score of at least 675 to register. At the time, Bailey said he built Score to push couples to talk more openly about personal finances, a topic many people avoid because it can feel uncomfortable.

“Fifty-four per cent of people say a partner’s debt is a reason to consider divorce,” Bailey said. “Financial compatibility is quietly one of the most important relationship factors, yet no dating platform addresses it directly.”

Score drew significant criticism, with many calling it classist because it centred on people who manage money well. Even so, the app — which was originally intended to run for only 90 days — became popular enough that Bailey kept it live for six months. During that period, it reached 50,000 users and generated worldwide headlines because of its premise.

Then the app disappeared, and dating culture moved on until Friday.

Bailey said he has decided to officially bring Score back, and this time he plans to keep it around.

“We originally released Score to integrate financial responsibility into something people deeply value — love,” Bailey said. “When we shut it down, we assumed the conversation would continue without us. It didn’t.”

Instead, Bailey said people kept asking why Score was shut down. “Academics have even reached out wanting to study behaviour impact,” he added. “It became clear this wasn’t just a viral moment. It tapped into something unresolved in relationship culture.”

This time, Score will be available through the iOS App Store. Bailey said the earlier version was limited because his team built the original release so quickly. He also said the new version will be more inclusive, following feedback that the app was too exclusive.

“So now, everyone can join.”

The relaunched app will offer two tiers. The basic tier requires no ID or credit verification, allowing anyone to browse and connect. The verified tier requires members to verify both their identity and credit score to unlock premium features. Score uses Equifax to verify identity and credit scores, and users must consent to that verification. Bailey said it uses a soft pull, meaning there is no impact on a person’s credit score.

“We don’t store full credit reports or sensitive personal and financial data. We receive confirmation that someone meets the Verified criteria,” he said.

The verified plan includes features that let members see nearby users, see who has saved their profile, send video introductions to potential matches, and message users before they swipe back.

Bailey said he remains confident that using credit scores makes sense, arguing that a credit score is not a measure of wealth but a reflection of consistency. “Banks look for the same thing in customers that we look for in relationships — consistency and reliability,” he said. “Dating apps measure attrition. We measure attrition plus accountability.”

Bailey also said the app does not store sensitive data, does not sell personal data, and secures everything using encrypted infrastructure.

The previous version of Score collected a significant amount of user data, which Bailey said helped illustrate how different generations are shaped by socioeconomic conditions. For instance, the earlier data suggested millennial men had credit scores about 11% higher than millennial women. For Gen Z users, the gap was much smaller, with men showing credit scores only 3% higher.

“We’ll be watching how that data [has] evolved,” he said.

Bailey said the original Score was an experiment limited to the U.S., but this time the company plans to expand globally, beginning with Canada. He also hinted that partnerships may be coming. “Financial behaviour is one of the strongest predictors of life stability,” Bailey said. “We believe compatibility algorithms should reflect that.”