THE credit standing of an applicant for a personal loan is investigated intensively because it indicates, within reason- able limits, the likelihood of repayment. It should not be assumed, however, that a bank officer can foretell with cer- tainty how faithfully a borrower will meet his obligations; few applicants have economic prospects so bad that there is not some small chance of repayment, and few are so well sit- uated that there is not some possibility of delinquency or even default. The selection of borrowers must therefore rest on probabilities. On the basis of experience, and to some ex- tent intuition, the loan officer decides which applicants are more likely to.
