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

PRAISETHESUN

My (now closed) basic accounts with Santander and Bank of Scotland are simply reported as "current account" on my files. Not sure if it was any different when they were still open. At any rate, I still doubt lenders will care what type of current account you hold (basic vs. standard) as there are much more significant factors that would impact your ability to get credit.

Rob5342

Daliah said:

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.

That's not true, I have a Starling Account which shows up in both Credit Karma and Clearscore.

I can't see why a basic bank account would have any bearing in itself, it's only branding by certain banks and is no different to having a standard current account with no overdraft facility at a different bank (my old Nationwide Flexbasic was no different to the Starling account I have now).

Daliah

Rob5342 said:

That's not true, I have a Starling Account which shows up in both Credit Karma and Clearscore.

I can't see why a basic bank account would have any bearing in itself, it's only branding by certain banks and is no different to having a standard current account with no overdraft facility at a different bank (my old Nationwide Flexbasic was no different to the Starling account I have now).

This must be a recent change, as they never used to report. But you are right, Starling do now appear, also on Experian. Still no sign of Chase.

[Deleted User]

Daliah said:

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.

No, it disproves what many have said. I have some legacy accounts (used for switching) which are now listed as Basic Bank Accounts - they weren't NatWest/RBS. As for upgrading, the credit file will show latest type so if the OP upgrades then the CRA type will be updated from Basic Bank Account to Current Account in due course. 

I'm struggling to understand why the OP doesn't just upgrade to a full current account as it's likely to be just a new debit card. 

swabaxter

Thinks have moved on quite a bit in banking in recent years. I highly recommend any of the highly rated app based banks that just offer a tremendous product, convenience and security. 

MrFrugalFever

Daliah said:

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.

It does indeed report it as a Basic current account and I am sure any lender doing a hard credit search will see it as such.

Alex9384

Daliah said:

This must be a recent change, as they never used to report. But you are right, Starling do now appear, also on Experian. Still no sign of Chase.

It's not a recent change. Starling have been reporting their accounts for ages. When I opened it for the first time in 2018, it was already on my credit files. However, they did only report to Equifax, I think. Monzo only reported to TransUnion, now also to Equifax. So if you only checked your Experian files, you could be thinking they don't report their accounts. Both Monzo and Starling now also report to Experian.