Does a credit report show what I actually spent the credited money on? 9 June 2022 at 4:22PM in Credit file & ratings 10 replies 323 views

dogAteMyCreditReport

I've been doing matched betting for a while, which requires gambling transactions to be made, I made these gambling transactions using my overdraft. 

An experian article says "While your credit report features plenty of financial information, it only includes financial information that's related to debt."

When a mortgage lender looks at my credit file, will they be able to see that the transactions that were made using credit / overdraft were related to gambling?

To save time and keep the responses focussed; I'm already aware that the transactions will show up on bank statements, and that 3-6 months of statements will be asked for unless they have reason to look further   

Any help is really appreciated! Thanks 

eskbanker

No, data fed to credit agencies just relates to credit limits and balances, not transactions.

lisyloo

I’m fairly sure I’ve seen cash on the history before but it’s not on credit karma so perhaps it depends.
weve certainly discussed it before wrt taking out cash abroad for foreign currency.

marcia_

 ClearScore shows cash from credit cards. 

 I did a money transfer to pay off a cc balance as they couldn't do a balance transfer for some reason. 

 It shows as a cash withdrawal 

MalMonroe

An overdraft will show up on your credit report as a debt. Lenders won't know why there's an overdraft though. 

MDMD

There’s nothing to stop them asking you to explain what the money was spent on though.

400ixl

Being seen consistently use an overdraft facility (no matter what for) is a major red flag for a mortgage provider. I'd be more concerned about this than whether they can see what it is used for. You may get disqualified before you even get to those sorts of questions.

Ebe_Scrooge

Yep, your credit files won't show what you spend money from your bank account on.  Cash withdrawals against credit cards are usually reported.  As per the previous reply, regular use of an overdraft is a cause for concern in the eyes of most lenders.

It's not my place to preach - but if you're having to use an overdraft to fund your gambling, are you sure that's a wise move?  If you have spare cash and you want to have a flutter then fair enough, but if you're having to use your overdraft then I'd be a little concerned.  I'm not being condescending here - just speaking as someone who got into a lot of trouble from gambling a long time ago.

dogAteMyCreditReport

Thanks for the help everyone, some great insights both for myself and future readers, so to summarise: 

No, banks won't be able to see what the overdraft was spent on.

They may still ask me what the overdraft was spent on. 

The fact that an overdraft is being used a lot may be a separate issue.

In regards to using overdraft for gambling, its not actually gambling, its matched betting, but it requires transactions to bookmakers websites. The banks see it as gambling for that reason and because the profits are tax free winnings so it's hard to categorise as anything else. I'm not allowed to post links but if anyone's interested google Matched betting for a description on how it is not gambling Many thanks for the help everyone!

MattMattMattUK

dogAteMyCreditReport said:

Thanks for the help everyone, some great insights both for myself and future readers, so to summarise: 

No, banks won't be able to see what the overdraft was spent on.

They may still ask me what the overdraft was spent on. 

The fact that an overdraft is being used a lot may be a separate issue.

In regards to using overdraft for gambling, its not actually gambling, its matched betting, but it requires transactions to bookmakers websites. The banks see it as gambling for that reason and because the profits are tax free winnings so it's hard to categorise as anything else. I'm not allowed to post links but if anyone's interested google Matched betting for a description on how it is not gambling Many thanks for the help everyone!

The mortgage lender will see from your credit report you are permanently in your overdraft. If they accept your initial application they will require bank statements which will clearly show what you spent the money on and the exact detail of being in your overdraft. Being in your overdraft and making gambling transactions will be a huge red flag.

If you want to get a mortgage you will likely need to be out of your mortgage for 6+ months and probably need minimal gambling transactions. Speak to a broker to find out what you need to do based on the current market, but I suspect that a mortgage is not currently on the cards.

K_S

@dogAteMyCreditReport With respect to mainstream mortgages and regular use of arranged overdrafts - on its own, it's not a huge issue to tbh in the majority of cases. I regularly get clients who regularly use arranged ODs (sometimes unnecessarily paying interest while they have a deposit sitting in a low interest savings account) and on its own it's never really made a material difference to their mortgage options.

The few scenarios in which it can be material to your mortgage chances are - 95% LTV at max borrowing, large amount of unsecured background debt, adverse credit history, etc.

With respect to matched betting transactions on the bank statement - definitely an issue due to the volume and frequency of transactions to Smarkets/Betfair exchanges and various bookmakers. If they see the statement, the lender will see it as problem gambling as will brokers. When I used to do matched betting a few years ago, I opened a separate bank account, funded it generously and then used only that one for all betting transactions.