Effect on credit file of opening multiple bank accounts

ashnojutsu

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]In an effort to maximize interest & switching incentives, I've opened several accounts in the space of a month. In total I opened 11 accounts throughout September. 5 of these were purely "donor" accounts which would be switched out to other banks to satisfy account or intensive requirements, and they would be closed as part of the switching process. The other 6 were accounts which I would be switching to, so I would be holding these accounts for the foreseeable future.

My credit rating took a significant hit - luckily my credit file was in good condition before all these applications took place, so the long-term impact would be minimized.

Here are my scores for September, before the applications were processed:

Experian: 989
Equifax: 486
Callcredit: 633

All decent to good scores.

[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Here are my scores for October, once the applications were completed:
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[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Experian: 762
Equifax: 405
Callcredit: 621
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As you can see, my Experian score took a battering.
The Equifax score still dropped, but not as much as the Experian score.
Last was the Call Credit score, which had a minimal impact.

Now, in all of my applications, I did not request an overdraft ONCE. I refused all credit that was offered to me, for the simple reason of not affecting my credit rating.
However, it seems banks like to perform hard credit searches even if you do not request overdraft facilities. This seems unfair, but obviously this is covered in the T&C's.

I just wanted to warn anyone thinking opening multiple accounts in a short space of time that their credit rating WILL go down as a result of the applications.
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The way to restore my credit rating is straightforward, I simply will not do any applications for bank accounts or credit facilities in the next 6 months.
This will allow all these searches to fall off my credit file, and things will get back to normal.

I will keep an eye on my credit score for next month, it may be that it starts to rise again sooner than expected.
I will keep this thread updated if that is the case, and I hope this information allows people to see how opening a large number of accounts in a short time period can negatively impact your credit score. [/FONT]

sourcrates

Sorry, you sound like an advert for Experian lol !!

It's a well known fact multiple applications in a short space of time will do this, however only you and the CRA ever see that score, you do realise that don't you ?

That figure is calculated on how they view you, not how a lender will view you.
I say this again and again, it's credit history that matters, not the made up credit score !!

colsten

It's all academic if you don't need to apply for any big credit such as a mortgage in the next 6-12 months. As you have experienced, the drop in the CRA scores didn't make a blind bit of difference to your ability to get accepted for multiple current accounts.

A4445

According to Experian I'm borderline fair- poor, got accepted for an Amex card straight away. Its totally useless!!