List of banks with hard vs soft searches for current accounts

Alex9384

flaneurs_lobster said:

Just checked my credit reports again and only a soft search showing on Equifax at the moment from Metro. :-)

Ditto, only soft searches.

Was it for their normal Current Account or just their basic Cash Account ?

Back in 2018 Metro definitely hard-searched me 2x for opening 2 current accounts.

pecunianonolet

Alex9384 said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Just checked my credit reports again and only a soft search showing on Equifax at the moment from Metro. :-)

Ditto, only soft searches.

Was it for their normal Current Account or just their basic Cash Account ?

Back in 2018 Metro definitely hard-searched me 2x for opening 2 current accounts.

Metro does a soft search only for current accounts (no overdraft), hence why they are very popular for donor accounts to benefit from switch offers. Been confimed by several users as well as myself.

ForumUser7

Does Santander do a credit search for their basic bank account please?

I'm reluctant to join Co-op yet, in case they launch another RAF offer. Feels unlikely to be any time soon after last time though.

pecunianonolet

ForumUser7 said:

Does Santander do a credit search for their basic bank account please?

I'm reluctant to join Co-op yet, in case they launch another RAF offer. Feels unlikely to be any time soon after last time though.

I would think that most basic accounts are soft search only as they are designed for people who would fail a hard check. Would contact Santander to double check.

[Deleted User]

As I said on the other thread, basic accounts are only for those who don’t qualify for a “normal” current account. By you holding one makes you ineligible so whether there’s a credit search or not is a moot point. 

ForumUser7

[Deleted User] said:

As I said on the other thread, basic accounts are only for those who don’t qualify for a “normal” current account. By you holding one makes you ineligible so whether there’s a credit search or not is a moot point. 

Thank you for pointing that out.

@pecunianonolet - I contacted Santander live chat, and they didn't know and said I'd have to call

I think Metro Bank is likely out the picture for me for now, as they state for ID they accept originals only and no photocopies, and they don't mention certified. Don't live near a branch, and I haven't fully been added onto credit reference agency systems yet.

I hold Starling and Monzo, and use both, so I'm reluctant to switch from one of them.

Opening a second account with a provider I already hold accounts with, then switching it out straight away doesn't seem like a great idea.

That only leaves Ulster (Which I want to switch into), First Direct (which I want to open and keep for the RS), and Co-op who I think I should leave for a RAF offer

Yesterday, I decided rather than opening a new club lloyds and Halifax rewards I should upgrade my existing accounts. On reflection, that was not a great idea, as if I'd opened new ones, it would've left the old ones right for switching...

[Deleted User]

You can still open new accounts with Halifax or Lloyds for switching and they don’t do a credit search on existing customers. 

I switched 5 or 6 accounts from them in the last 6 months. Of course there’s a chance of them getting unhappy with you though. 

ForumUser7

[Deleted User] said:

You can still open new accounts with Halifax or Lloyds for switching and they don’t do a credit search on existing customers. 

I switched 5 or 6 accounts from them in the last 6 months. Of course there’s a chance of them getting unhappy with you though. 

Yeah, I have bank of Scotland too, and they have the same policy re credit searches, so I guess I could open one with each of them and switch to NW RBS Ulster.

But I feel doing that straight away, given I've only been a customer since late last year, and have taken advantage of their RS IT glitch, may be taking it too far. I certainly don't want to lose access to Lloyds Banking Group.

Maybe I'll open a new donor account every few months across different providers, and build up a portfolio of accounts that are ready for switching.

A few months down the line when I've been fully linked with CRAs, I'll try opening an account with Metro bank. How have people found them when using them solely for donor accounts? I've not seen many/any bad posts on here about them.

Bridlington1

ForumUser7 said:

[Deleted User] said:

As I said on the other thread, basic accounts are only for those who don’t qualify for a “normal” current account. By you holding one makes you ineligible so whether there’s a credit search or not is a moot point. 

Thank you for pointing that out.

@pecunianonolet - I contacted Santander live chat, and they didn't know and said I'd have to call

I think Metro Bank is likely out the picture for me for now, as they state for ID they accept originals only and no photocopies, and they don't mention certified. Don't live near a branch, and I haven't fully been added onto credit reference agency systems yet.

I hold Starling and Monzo, and use both, so I'm reluctant to switch from one of them.

Opening a second account with a provider I already hold accounts with, then switching it out straight away doesn't seem like a great idea.

That only leaves Ulster (Which I want to switch into), First Direct (which I want to open and keep for the RS), and Co-op who I think I should leave for a RAF offer

Yesterday, I decided rather than opening a new club lloyds and Halifax rewards I should upgrade my existing accounts. On reflection, that was not a great idea, as if I'd opened new ones, it would've left the old ones right for switching...

I was able to open my Metro account online within about 10-15 minutes. If I recall correctly they checked my passport online by scanning it on my phone. I certainly didn't need to visit a branch or anything to provide ID so I wouldn't let that put you off opening an account with them.

ForumUser7

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

[Deleted User] said:

As I said on the other thread, basic accounts are only for those who don’t qualify for a “normal” current account. By you holding one makes you ineligible so whether there’s a credit search or not is a moot point. 

Thank you for pointing that out.

@pecunianonolet - I contacted Santander live chat, and they didn't know and said I'd have to call

I think Metro Bank is likely out the picture for me for now, as they state for ID they accept originals only and no photocopies, and they don't mention certified. Don't live near a branch, and I haven't fully been added onto credit reference agency systems yet.

I hold Starling and Monzo, and use both, so I'm reluctant to switch from one of them.

Opening a second account with a provider I already hold accounts with, then switching it out straight away doesn't seem like a great idea.

That only leaves Ulster (Which I want to switch into), First Direct (which I want to open and keep for the RS), and Co-op who I think I should leave for a RAF offer

Yesterday, I decided rather than opening a new club lloyds and Halifax rewards I should upgrade my existing accounts. On reflection, that was not a great idea, as if I'd opened new ones, it would've left the old ones right for switching...

I was able to open my Metro account online within about 10-15 minutes. If I recall correctly they checked my passport online by scanning it on my phone. I certainly didn't need to visit a branch or anything to provide ID so I wouldn't let that put you off opening an account with them.

Thanks for pointing this out - I'll go ahead and open an account with them - I did think what the agent said was odd!

Does anyone know please, if you open more than one account with Metro on one day, do they only carry out 1 hard search, or is it literally 1 hard search per account regardless of the gap between the applications?