Savings accounts...?

JAYk_2

Can you have as many as you wish? Or is that not a good idea when it comes to banking, credit scoring etc? Thanks.

CLAPTON

yes you can have as many as you wish
they don't affect your credit rating as they are not recorded on your credit files as they aren't credit

JamieD_2

A downside is that it can look a bit like you are a fraudster if you have a dozen savings accounts.


If someone gets suspicious and puts the bank's financial crime unit on to you, it can cause problems

CLAPTON

JamieD wrote: »

A downside is that it can look a bit like you are a fraudster if you have a dozen savings accounts.


If someone gets suspicious and puts the bank's financial crime unit on to you, it can cause problems

bizarre .... I have a lot more than a dozen accounts

exel1966

JamieD wrote: »

A downside is that it can look a bit like you are a fraudster if you have a dozen savings accounts.


If someone gets suspicious and puts the bank's financial crime unit on to you, it can cause problems

Please ! Don't be silly, it looks nothing of the sort. The number of accounts makes no difference whatsoever unless you opened them all at once.
Regular movement of extremely high amounts is what triggers problems.

opinions4u

JamieD wrote: »

A downside is that it can look a bit like you are a fraudster if you have a dozen savings accounts.


If someone gets suspicious and puts the bank's financial crime unit on to you, it can cause problems

I had around 30 Halifax savings accounts at one point (back in the day when Web Saver paid a great rate) .... I currently have around 8 Egg savings accounts.

Not a hint of any interference from the fraud units.

Why do you say what you've posted? Is there a specific set of cirumstances that make you think that?

JamieD_2

Yes there is. If you're a nasty fraudster and open up lots of savings accounts over the interweb, you can pay dodgy cheques into each of them and then on day 4, before the cheques are returned, transfer the funds another account where they'll show as cleared funds. Then withdraw the funds as cash and go a-spending.

I've seen several cases of fraud attempted in this way, so this situation is a bit of a red light for bank staff where I work.

Obviously, if you have a bunch of different savings accounts that have been open for years, with thousands in each, then it's a different story. However if they're all empty it looks a bit fishy

Fedz

I think by enlarge most savers with multitude of savings accounts aren't 'nasty fraudsters' but, I see your point.

But, as soon as you do it or attempt it once surely you'll be flagged & all your accounts will be in question within the low hours so basically you've ('nasty fraudsters') shot yourself in the foot very early.

AnonymousForObviousReason

I know if you open/apply for a number of bank accounts/credit cards at the same, it can hit your credit rating because they do a credit check and multiple checks in a short space of time can reduce your rating (guess it looks like you need credit quickly, so they reduce your chances of getting it). I can't see this being the same for pure saving accounts as CLAPTON there is no credit involved but you may want to confirm that they arn't doing checks for other reasons (like trying to flog you a credit card).

btacay

Having many accounts in as many banks is not a crime. In fact it will do you good if your goal is to save more money.

To save more money, you need to take control of your money. To do this, you need to set up different bank accounts for the different spending aspects of your life.

Because one of the most confusing things that you can do with your money, is to operate with too few bank accounts.

opinions4u

btacay wrote: »

Having many accounts in as many banks is not a crime. In fact it will do you good if your goal is to save more money.

To save more money, you need to take control of your money. To do this, you need to set up different bank accounts for the different spending aspects of your life.

Because one of the most confusing things that you can do with your money, is to operate with too few bank accounts.

While it works for me, it's not something that needs to be done.

Individuals may prefer to have a single decent paying savings account and maintain a spreadhseet to account for what money is allocated to what purpose.

Each to his own. But the more organised around savings that people become, the more likely they are to save successfully - minimising the need to borrow in the future.