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Goldman Sachs Probe Opened After Tweets Allege Gender Bias With Apple Credit Cards

A tech entrepreneur said he was offerred a credit limit for the Goldman Sachs-backed Apple Card that was 20 times higher than his wife’s limit.

A New York regulator is opening an investigation into Goldman Sachs for possible gender discrimination in its credit limit practices after a tech entrepreneur slammed the company, saying he was offered a credit limit 20 times higher than his wife. “The department will be conducting an investigation to determine whether New York law was violated and ensure all consumers are treated equally regardless of sex,” said a spokesman for Linda Lacewell, the superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services. “Any algorithm, that intentionally or not results in discriminatory treatment of women or any other protected class of people violates New York law.”

David Heinemeier Hansson alleged gender discrimination in the algorithm that determines credit limits for the Goldman Sachs-backed Apple Card in a series of tweets, adding that his wife has a higher credit score and that they filed joint tax returns. Hansson said in an interview with Bloomberg that Goldman Sachs bumped up his wife’s credit limit without requiring any additional documentation after he sent the tweets. Goldman spokesman Andrew Williams said in a statement that “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.”