Choosing a date: Good looks or good credit?

Whatever it is you're looking for in a date - tall, dark and handsome, a good sense of humor, long walks on the beach - forget it. The latest criteria for a good match may just be good credit.

The number of people searching for the perfect date during this recession is going up, but with most Americans concerned about their own finances, more and more are focusing on their mate's bottom-line.

Seattle University economics professor Chris Weber says a potential mate's credit rating is an important consideration.

"With good credit can buy you most anything," says Seattle University economics professor Chris Weber.

Buying higher-ticket items like condos and houses, cars and jewelry is nearly impossible without good credit. But, marry someone with bad credit and Weber warns, "then that person's credit is yours, too."

Dating site Match.com reports that 84 percent of their members are becoming more selective about their first date. At the top of their list: their potential mate's financial situation. And while it used to be women were more concerned about men's incomes, another poll shows men are taking more interest in women's incomes.

There's even a website dedicated to credit-conscious daters called creditscoredating.com. According to the web site, good credit is sexy. People login posting their credit or FICO scores (850 being the highest, 300 the lowest) for all potential suitors to see.

But, will it really help love seekers find their soul mate?

"I don't think that's the greatest criteria for an initial match," says psychologist Les Parrott, who helped develop the dating site e-Harmony.

Psychologist Les Parrott says a person's credit rating is not necessarily the best criterion for an initial match.

He says talking about money and finances is important in every relationship, but it should not be a dating deal-breaker. If a person insists on getting your credit score first, he says, "I don't know if that's the kind of person you're looking for life-long love."

KOMO wanted to find out if money can buy you love. We recruited two guys and two girls and logged them onto creditscoredating.com. But, instead of posting real credit scores, we gave each of our guinea pigs fake credit scores. We also posted their personal information and real photos.

For Barbara, a 60-year-old executive looking for a guy who likes having fun skiing, sailing and going to concerts, we posted a near perfect credit score of 820. For Lindsey, an attractive, 24-year-old, junior sales rep, we posted a low credit score of 350.

For the guys, we left age out of it. Instead we added fake occupations. We called Adam a starving artist with a very good credit score of 800. We called Rick a plastic surgeon who has a dismal credit score of 450.

A few days later, we got the results. Three people looked at Barbara's profile, including her great credit score. But, more than 10 people checked out Lindsey's profile, bad credit and all.

For Adam, the fake starving artist with the decent credit score, 10 people looked at his profile. But, for our fake plastic surgeon Rick, only one person seemed interested in dating him and his lousy credit score.

So, can good credit lead to the path of true love?

Our for-fun, online test is hardly concrete, scientific evidence. But, while our economic expert, Chris Weber, says finances should certainly be considered at the top of the relationship list, "if you have very good credit, and you're in a serious relationship with someone, then you really do want to know before you go much further."

Our love expert, Dr. Les Parrott, says money should not be the end-all-be-all. "I think it does take away from a lot of the other qualities that go into a relationship that goes the distance."