Goldman’s CEO Defends Apple Card, Says ‘There’s No Gender Bias’

(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Solomon forcefully denied customer allegations of gender bias in setting credit limits for the Apple Card, pledging to address a social media and political uproar with more transparency when making decisions.

“There’s no gender bias in our process for extending credit,” Solomon told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Thursday from the New Economy Forum in Beijing. “There’s no question that different applicants can get different results, and that can be for a variety of reasons.”

Solomon’s blunt defense of the card signaled confidence in the face of demands from some U.S. lawmakers, including Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, that the company provide more information on whether its computer models may be unintentionally cementing decades of gender bias when helping to issue the card. Tech entrepreneur David Heinemeier Hansson set off the furor with a viral tweet saying he was allowed to borrow 20 times as much as his wife, even though he has a lower credit score and they reported the same income.

“We’re going to work over time to do more to deliver more transparency to our clients,” Solomon said. He praised the card, created in a partnership with Apple Inc., for giving applicants instant decisions. “We’re committed to working with Apple to improve that transparency so that it’s a unique and differentiated product.”

Goldman has previously said it doesn’t take gender or marital status into account when determining creditworthiness. The bank has said it’s introducing the ability for household members to share an Apple Card credit line and that it welcomes a discussion of the topic with policy makers and regulators.

The New Economy Forum is being organized by BloombergMedia Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News

To contact the reporter on this story: Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at kchan14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Candice Zachariahs at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net, David Scheer

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