Will having a 'basic' bank account affect my chances of getting a mortgage?

Pickles1978

I used to have poor credit and therefore had a 'basic' bank account. My credit history is fine now but I never bothered to change my bank account to a regular one. My question is will having a 'basic' account look bad and affect my chances of getting a mortgage? (Had basic account for 11 years).

grumbler

I don't think that a basic account is reported to CRAs as it doesn't have a credit facility. Even if it is reported I don't think it can be seen there that it's 'basic'

PRAISETHESUN

Basic accounts get reported to your credit files same as any other current account - lenders don't distinguish between basic and non-basic accounts, same as they don't distinguish between prime and sub-prime credit cards. As long as the underlying reasons that led to you only being eligible for a basic account have been addressed, then there's no reason it should impact your mortgage.

Daliah

grumbler said:

I don't think that a basic account is reported to CRAs as it doesn't have a credit facility. Even if it is reported I don't think it can be seen there that it's 'basic'

Agree, if it is reported, it wouldn't say it's a basic account. If it's not reported, it could be seen as a problem as there is no record of a current account. This could be easily explained to the mortgage broker by showing them bank statements. It's perfectly reasonable to want/have a current account that cannot get overdrawn, and there should be no stigma attached to it. Some of the newer banks (Starling, Chase) effectively only offer basic accounts, which they don't report to the CRAs.

The main thing, however, is what is shown on the credit files. If there are no missed payments on any accounts (incl utilities, phones, credit cards), no CIFAS markers and no CCJs, it's an excellent credit record. So check all your credit files.

[Deleted User]

Basic accounts are now listed as such (standard accounts are listed as Current accounts) on credit reports that I've seen. 

That said the OP could upgrade to the standard equivalent and it would likely update on the credit report too. 

Daliah

Deleted_User said:

 

That said the OP could upgrade to the standard equivalent and it would likely update on the credit report too. 

This wouldn't populate the credit report with historic data though, would it?

overspender22

Sorry but most of the answers here are bad guesses and incorrect. They show as basic accounts. 

MovingForwards

overspender22 said:

Sorry but most of the answers here are bad guesses and incorrect. They show as basic accounts. 

That's what you see, when businesses do credit checks they don't see the bank name or that it's a basic bank account. They just see you have a current account, credit card, loan, mortgage etc and whether there's late / missed payments, defaults, arrangement to pay, CCJs etc.

Daliah

MovingForwards said:

overspender22 said:

Sorry but most of the answers here are bad guesses and incorrect. They show as basic accounts. 

That's what you see, when businesses do credit checks they don't see the bank name or that it's a basic bank account. They just see you have a current account, credit card, loan, mortgage etc and whether there's late / missed payments, defaults, arrangement to pay, CCJs etc.

I doubt this is the case. There have been plenty of examples where people got asked by a bank, as part of their ID check, for the name of the bank with which they took out a particular product. Therefore banks will be able to see the details.

[Deleted User]

Daliah said:

MovingForwards said:

overspender22 said:

Sorry but most of the answers here are bad guesses and incorrect. They show as basic accounts. 

That's what you see, when businesses do credit checks they don't see the bank name or that it's a basic bank account. They just see you have a current account, credit card, loan, mortgage etc and whether there's late / missed payments, defaults, arrangement to pay, CCJs etc.

I doubt this is the case. There have been plenty of examples where people got asked by a bank, as part of their ID check, for the name of the bank with which they took out a particular product. Therefore banks will be able to see the details.

The banks don't see it, as the question and answer is routed via the CRAs.

Provider names aren't visible to lenders.

Daliah

overspender22 said:

Sorry but most of the answers here are bad guesses and incorrect. They show as basic accounts. 

This only proves that Natwest are reporting basic accounts. It does not mean all banks do this. Some, like Starling and Chase, don’t even report ANY of their accounts.