Opening many current accounts within a relatively short time frame

Lightning360

In August, I opened a Santander Student account. In November, I closed my Barclays account and opened a Nationwide FlexAccount (using the current account switch service). I early January, I opened a Monzo account but I really wasn't a fan so I closed the account within a week. Because of this, I opened a NatWest account a weeks ago but due to a few annoying issues, I want to close this account. Would it be possible to open another bank account with another bank? Would opening and closing so many accounts have much negative impact on my credit report and would this impact matter considering I have no intension of borrowing any money in the near future as I'm only in my first year of uni? As long as I face no big issues with this third bank, I have no intention of opening or closing any more current accounts.

Also, can I open a current account with another bank and a few weeks later switch my NatWest one to this one (I have to keep the Natwest one open for a maximum of a few weeks to sort out the issues) or does the current account switch service have to be done instantly (so I would have to do everything manually).

Note - I would prefer to have three accounts to manage my money better. The Santander account would be a "feeder" account so I would transfer money from this to the other two. The Nationwide one would be more of a spending account and the other one is meant to be more for savings.

eskbanker

Lightning360 said:

In August, I opened a Santander Student account. In November, I closed my Barclays account and opened a Nationwide FlexAccount (using the current account switch service). I early January, I opened a Monzo account but I really wasn't a fan so I closed the account within a week. Because of this, I opened a NatWest account a weeks ago but due to a few annoying issues, I want to close this account. Would it be possible to open another bank account with another bank?

If another bank accepts your application, yes, but you'll be running out of new banks to try at the rate you're going!

Lightning360 said:

Would opening and closing so many accounts have much negative impact on my credit report and would this impact matter considering I have no intension of borrowing any money in the near future as I'm only in my first year of uni?

All this activity will be reflected on your credit files, so it's possible that you may have issues opening yet another account with presumably limited income.  However, if you're not planning on applying for any other credit-related facilities for a while then the impact should be relatively low.

Lightning360 said:

Also, can I open a current account with another bank and a few weeks later switch my NatWest one to this one (I have to keep the Natwest one open for a maximum of a few weeks to sort out the issues) or does the current account switch service have to be done instantly (so I would have to do everything manually).

You can open a new account and then later make a CASS switch to it at a date of your choosing.

Lightning360

eskbanker said:

Lightning360 said:

In August, I opened a Santander Student account. In November, I closed my Barclays account and opened a Nationwide FlexAccount (using the current account switch service). I early January, I opened a Monzo account but I really wasn't a fan so I closed the account within a week. Because of this, I opened a NatWest account a weeks ago but due to a few annoying issues, I want to close this account. Would it be possible to open another bank account with another bank?

If another bank accepts your application, yes, but you'll be running out of new banks to try at the rate you're going!

Lightning360 said:

Would opening and closing so many accounts have much negative impact on my credit report and would this impact matter considering I have no intension of borrowing any money in the near future as I'm only in my first year of uni?

All this activity will be reflected on your credit files, so it's possible that you may have issues opening yet another account with presumably limited income.  However, if you're not planning on applying for any other credit-related facilities for a while then the impact should be relatively low.

Lightning360 said:

Also, can I open a current account with another bank and a few weeks later switch my NatWest one to this one (I have to keep the Natwest one open for a maximum of a few weeks to sort out the issues) or does the current account switch service have to be done instantly (so I would have to do everything manually).

You can open a new account and then later make a CASS switch to it at a date of your choosing.

Thank you! I guess I've just been really unlucky with my experiences with those 3 banks

My course is 4 years so I still have 3 and a half years before I might go out into the real world, although I am considering doing a PGCE course so would be at uni for yet another year. Hopefully the impact is low after all that time.

eskbanker

Lightning360 said:

My course is 4 years so I still have 3 and a half years before I might go out into the real world, although I am considering doing a PGCE course so would be at uni for yet another year. Hopefully the impact is low after all that time.

Perhaps worth bearing in mind that you'll be credit-checked for all sorts of things, not just bank accounts, but accommodation rental, phone contracts, utilities, insurance, etc, if any of these apply to your uni life - if you haven't already, then it may be worth having a peek at your credit files to see how they look, but ignore the scores....

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

Gray001

These new bank accounts will leave "hard search" records on your credit report which creditors can see. But they are removed after 12 months so you should be grand 😀

Lightning360

eskbanker said:

Lightning360 said:

My course is 4 years so I still have 3 and a half years before I might go out into the real world, although I am considering doing a PGCE course so would be at uni for yet another year. Hopefully the impact is low after all that time.

Perhaps worth bearing in mind that you'll be credit-checked for all sorts of things, not just bank accounts, but accommodation rental, phone contracts, utilities, insurance, etc, if any of these apply to your uni life - if you haven't already, then it may be worth having a peek at your credit files to see how they look, but ignore the scores....

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

I've had a look and everything seems good. I haven't missed any payments. According to ClearScore the only negative thing I can do something about is not having a credit card, however, I don't think these are recommended for students if they're not working (which I'm not) and are hard to get anyway.

Lightning360

Gray001 said:

These new bank accounts will leave "hard search" records on your credit report which creditors can see. But they are removed after 12 months so you should be grand 😀

Sounds good then! Hopefully, it's third time lucky with the next bank