While media reports have sensationalised this social credit system, China cannot take credit for the ethos and thinking behind its design that advocates strong, hurtful disincentives for unwanted behaviour.
Sweden has taken it to new levels with a rice grain-sized microchip that can be implanted under the skin of one’s hand to replace the need for keys, credit cards and train tickets. It might sound shocking but over 4,000 Swedes have adopted the technology. Many Asian countries have long enjoyed good reputations as savers, not spenders, but decades ago, South Korean credit market was liberalised and over many years, “cheap money” turned price-conscious South Koreans into debt-ridden shop-a-holics. That has sowed a harvest of misfortune.
A worker works at an assembly line at a main factory of Hyundai Motor in Ulsan, about 410 km southeast of Seoul on Jul 13, 2012. Germany has a credit scoring system known as Schufa similar to FICO, but grades Germans on how healthy they are as well by offering them cheaper premiums if you share data from your fitness tracker proving you’re keeping active.China’s social credit system is here to stay and there’s no turning back the clock.