does moving money constitute 'income'?

larochelleuk

Hi,

One current account says that you must have an 'income' to open an account.

My friend doesn't have an income right now, but is wondering whether she can transfer money to and from a savings account so there would be enough activity on the account to keep it alive. But is this the same thing as saying 'income' on an application - could this cause a discrepancy/ problem with the credit reference check? There's no point in applying if so, or if she won't get past this, as she doesn't have an income.

Thanks for any help!

mrcow

No it's not an income and if she declares it as such then she will be lying on her application.

What's she planning to do if/when they ask her for three months of payslips? :rolleyes:

thesaint

Correct me if i'm wrong, but I thought that income only meant the money coming into you each month/year.
If it says "salary", that's when you would be lying.

When I applied for a buy to let mortgage a couple of years ago this is what I was led to believe. My income was about the figure of my salary.

Kilty_2

Plenty of banks offer current accounts that you don't need to pay your salary into, Nationwide's FlexAccount being one example.

anniecave

alliance and leicester also don't require you to pay a salary in
normally they will specify if they mean "salary" to be paid in, as opposed to anything else.
They may ask on the application form if you are working, and if so what your salary is. Or what other "income" you have, eg interest from savings accounts or income from investments, or pension, or benefits. In a separate question they may ask how much you will be paying into your account.

Kilty_2

Do Alliance and Leicester not require £500 be paid in monthly though, or is that just to get a higher rate of interest?

Nationwide require no monthly payment at all, unless you want the 4.25% interest then you need to pay £1000 monthly.

MarkyMarkD

The A&L minimum is zero on the standard current account; it's only £500 on Premier accounts.

RayWolfe

I suspect people are confusing Income with Payments.
For a current account they will want to know your income (salary, dividends, interest, etc.). To meet any minimum payments they will just want you to pay in that minimum.
If you are asked a question about your Income, you must not include transfers because they are trying to ascertain your credit worthiness.

Kilty_2

RayWolfe wrote:

I suspect people are confusing Income with Payments.
For a current account they will want to know your income (salary, dividends, interest, etc.). To meet any minimum payments they will just want you to pay in that minimum.
If you are asked a question about your Income, you must not include transfers because they are trying to ascertain your credit worthiness.

Yes, this is correct, you will be credit scored.

Nationwide accepted me for a full FlexAccount (ATM card + cheque book, no debit card or credit facilities) with zero income

MarkyMarkD

It is quite right that some banks (or building societies, to split hairs) will let you have a bank account with no income. There are many people with plenty of assets but little income, who are perfectly sensible banking customers.

But there are also banks which require you to meet both an income threshold and a monthly deposit threshold under the terms of an individual type of current account, and it's not appropriate to apply for those accounts if you haven't got genuine income of the level required.

oldwiring

OT and sorrry, but I could not aviod thinking that we don't want the dour scotsman or HMRC getting ideas. It'd be a winner for Them. Move Money from bank A to bank B and get taxed at 22 or 40%