Hey baby, can I get your number? And by that, I mean your credit score

Alexander Marks, a lawyer who works in public education and lives in Las Vegas, was flummoxed when potential dates on matchmaking apps messaged him to ask about his credit score at least a dozen times in recent years.

“It’s an odd approach because you’re just reducing me to a number," said Marks, 38. “That’s an immediate turnoff for me."

The little three-digit numbers are made when credit bureaus collect information on your payment and debt history from lenders, which credit-scoring companies then use toassign a numerical value ranging from about 300 to 850.

Banks use the scores to decide who gets a loan.

Those on the hunt for love say they’re not bad for scoping out romantic partners either—well, except when they are.

Dan Fiscus, 25, said he often messaged with women about credit scores when he was single and on apps. Sometimes the women would bring it up; sometimes he would.

To Fiscus, who works in information technology in Washington, D.C., it seemed normal. In college, it was common for people to ask each other how they were paying their tuition, or how much debt they had. He and his girlfriend, Victoria Gendron, discussed finances from early on in their relationship. Both have credit scores in the mid-700s.

“I feel like we’re closer because we had that conversation," said Gendron, who is 23 and studying to be a nurse.

Plenty of critics have problems with credit scores, raising questions about whether they’re fair or if they even work. The formulas tend to shut out people who are new to the U.S. or have used cash all their lives. The things that make a person’s credit score go up or down seem like a black box.

And the Romeos who think a high credit score automatically means their date is rich should reconsider. Credit scores are meant to measure a person’s ability to repay a loan, not how much money they have. Research by the Federal Reserve has found only a moderate correlation between income and credit scores.

A survey this year by personal-finance company Credit Karma found that two-thirds of Americans said it’s important that their partner has a good credit score. Half of those who have used a dating app, or are open to using one, wish the apps could filter by financial status, according to the survey of roughly 1,000 people.

Another personal-finance company, Neon Money Club, temporarily set up a dating app this year for people with a credit score of 675 or higher. The company said the app, Score, attracted about 18,000 users in the six months it was operating.

When Katherine Lemus heard about Score, she told her single friends to try it out.

“People say ‘You’re a gold digger,’ but it’s not about that: It’s about knowing you’re going to not be supporting someone," Lemus said.

In her 20s, Lemus cosigned a credit card for a then-partner with poor credit. When the relationship ended, she was left with overdue bills. Her credit score dropped into the 500s, she said.

“You make that one little mistake and it just kept on spiraling," said Lemus, who is now married and lives in Toronto.

Still, scores-as-dating-tool doesn’t always work. Yuri Selukoff put his credit score on his profile after reading about an influencer who got multiple dates after she did the same. Selukoff, an app developer in San Francisco, has an excellent score of over 800.

In the message chats that followed, no one mentioned it.

“It was shortly before I got disappointed in this whole idea of dating apps, and stopped using them altogether," said Selukoff, 50. If he ever decides to go back to the dating scene, he expects to meet new people through his side hustle as a drummer in a rock band.

People with good credit will have an easier time getting a mortgage or a car loan, and a lower interest rate—something that might be appealing to a potential partner.

But Dylan Selterman, a social psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, said credit scores aren’t going to be a strong predictor of whether two people will find romance, unlike traits such as values, morals or attachment style.

“That being said, financial resources and just the ability to have a stable life together—those are very important things for the logistics of a relationship," he said. “It’s hard to have a relationship if you’re struggling to make ends meet."

Stanford University sociologist Michael Rosenfeld, who studies mating and dating, said credit scores can serve as a proxy for other kinds of trustworthiness, since they take into account whether a person has repaid their previous loans.

“Long-term relationships carry risk," Rosenfeld said. “One wants to know if the person in question pays their bills or has a tendency to duck out from responsibilities."

A 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center asked people their reasons for wanting to get married. The top answers were love and companionship. Almost 40% of the respondents who were already living with a partner said finances were a major reason too. Only 14% said it was because they wanted to have children.

On the dating app OkCupid, daters who keep a budget get 25% more matches and have 16% more conversations on the app than those who don’t, the company said. In 2022, OkCupid found a third of daters said it was important that their match has a high credit score.

Still, some people find asking about credit scores before a relationship has even started to be distasteful.

On a first date at a Starbucks in Rock Hill, S.C., Patterson Kannon mentioned that he works as an accountant.

“I bet you have a really good credit score," was his date’s response.

The 25-year-old does, in the high 700s. He is also now dating someone else.

Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@wsj.com