Credit checks on opening a bank account

pledgeX

I'm thinking of opening a joint bank account with my girlfriend as we will hopefully getting a house together soon.

My question is, how concerned are they with credit checks on opening the bank account? This will be with Nationwide, who we've both already got a current account with. It's also who we're getting our mortgage with.

I got a credit card with another bank about 9 months ago now, and during the whole mortgage process, we will have had at least 3 credit checks done on us each, maybe more if nationwide had to do multiple checks.

I've heard it's not a good idea to get lots of credit checks done in a short period of time, so am wondering whether I should wait a bit before applying. Or do you think this should be ok? It would just be handy to have this setup ready for when we move in so we don't have to faff about changing direct debit details.

Thanks for any advice.

MichaelCR

pledgeX wrote: »

I'm thinking of opening a joint bank account with my girlfriend as we will hopefully getting a house together soon.

My question is, how concerned are they with credit checks on opening the bank account? This will be with Nationwide, who we've both already got a current account with. It's also who we're getting our mortgage with.

I got a credit card with another bank about 9 months ago now, and during the whole mortgage process, we will have had at least 3 credit checks done on us each, maybe more if nationwide had to do multiple checks.

I've heard it's not a good idea to get lots of credit checks done in a short period of time, so am wondering whether I should wait a bit before applying. Or do you think this should be ok? It would just be handy to have this setup ready for when we move in so we don't have to faff about changing direct debit details.

Thanks for any advice.

Hey there !

As i'm aware all banks will credit check applicants.

Dependent on which account you are applying for, Depends on how stringent the check will be.

Lets say you are applying for a basic bank account with no Cheque Book and of course no overdraft. The credit Checks will be carried out to check for Bankruptcy and IVA and as part of there identity checks, So its more of a Soft Search.

Lets say you are applying for a Midrange account or top account, Visa Debit card, Cheque Guarantee, Cheque Book, And an overdraft facility, Then of course the Credit checks will determined whether you get the account or not and the credit checks will be made to check your current financial affairs, Also to see if you meet the criteria.

I'd personally say give it a go (Noone here could tell you whether you'd definitely be approved).

coolesticeking

Remember, having a joint bank account creates a Financial Link on your credit reports so think carefully about this - it may be better having sole accounts and with Faster Payments its a lot easier than before.

If any of you have had credit problems in the past, doing this could screw you up big time!

pledgeX

coolesticeking wrote: »

Remember, having a joint bank account creates a Financial Link on your credit reports so think carefully about this - it may be better having sole accounts and with Faster Payments its a lot easier than before.

If any of you have had credit problems in the past, doing this could screw you up big time!

Thanks for the heads up. I was aware of the link, but both of us have had no problem in the past so are not too conerned.

If anything was to go wrong in the future, I think it's probably easier if we have a joint account then we have no access to each other's personal money and have always put in the same amount each so know who's put what into the house. Although I would like to think this would never be a problem anyway!

As for the credit checks, I'm aware they will do some, and that the level will depend on what exactly we're applying for. But for a bog basic joint account, I'd like to think we'll be fine. It's just hard to find out how many a lender would consider too many credit checks in the past few months.

coolesticeking

pledgeX wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up. I was aware of the link, but both of us have had no problem in the past so are not too conerned.

If anything was to go wrong in the future, I think it's probably easier if we have a joint account then we have no access to each other's personal money and have always put in the same amount each so know who's put what into the house. Although I would like to think this would never be a problem anyway!

As for the credit checks, I'm aware they will do some, and that the level will depend on what exactly we're applying for. But for a bog basic joint account, I'd like to think we'll be fine. It's just hard to find out how many a lender would consider too many credit checks in the past few months.

If you are going to apply in branch for example, ensure that you stress that you are wanting to apply for a basic bank account and not the standard one. Some banks have to put it through as a standard account and then if you do not qualify, then offer you a basic account instead.

For a basic bank account, the only checks they do as a general rule of thumb is to ensure you have no fraud markers on either of your credit files and that you have not been declared bankrupt.

If you have never had any problems with credit in the past, and have active credit agreements elsewhere then this should not be a problem.