Scoring models cannot include information on race, gender, or marital status. Recently, the Board amended its commentary on Reg. B to clarify the use of age in credit scoring models. Reg. B defines an "empirically derived, demonstrably and statistically sound, credit scoring system" as one that is: (i) based on data that are derived from an empirical comparison of sample groups or the population of creditworthy and noncreditworthy applicants who applied for credit within a reasonable preceding period of time; (ii) developed for the purpose of evaluating the creditworthiness of applicants with respect to the legitimate business interest of the creditor; (iii) developed and validated using accepted statistical principles and methodology; and (iv) periodically reevaluated by the use of appropriate statistical principles and methodology and adjusted as necessary to maintain predictive ability. Reg. B classifies any other system as a judgmental system, and such systems cannot use age directly as a predictive variable in the model.

However, if the model does qualify as an empirically derived, demonstrably and statistically sound system, the Board has determined that it can use age directly in the model as long as the weight assigned to an applicant 62 years or older is not lower than that assigned to any other age category. And if a system assigns points to some other variable based on the applicant’s age, applicants who are 62 years and older must receive at least the same number of points as the most favored class of nonelderly applicants. (Any system of evaluating creditworthiness may favor a credit applicant aged 62 years or older, given the other factors contained in the model). Also, a well-built model will include all allowable factors that produce the most accurate prediction of credit performance, so a lender using such a model might be able to argue that a similarly effective alternative was not available. But banks that override the model for certain borrowers need to be particularly careful in documenting the reasons for the override to avoid violating fair lending laws. Similarly, borrowers right at the margin of cutoff for approval must be handled carefully.