Minimal activity on my current account. Is this a problem?

MrFrugalFever

I've operated in this way for a couple of years now and just going through mortgage process, not got to the underwriters stage just yet but I have downloaded 3 months worth of statements from all credit cards (I use two mainly for the most amount of spending) just in case they need it. I have 2 direct debits and half dozen standing orders in to various savings accounts, i'm hoping it won't affect my mortgage application.

Nebulous2

I needed a mortgage, was asked for bank statements and gave them statements for my two most used current accounts. They didn't ask for anymore, and I didn't offer. I had about 5 at the time, and currently have 7. One of them only has a regular saver. Money in each month, standing order to regular saver and that's it. 

Unless you are pushing your limits - looking for an ambitious mortgage, or borrowing which is a big stretch - I'm a firm believer that many of the things people worry about are just background static. Do what works for you and don't let the credit report tail wag the best use of financial products dog. 

I'm not sure what you mean by saying some jobs require your bank statements to be scrutinised. Unless you are working in regulated financial services your employer doesn't have much interest in how you spend your money, and has no means of finding out unless you share the information with them. 

boingy

In a typical month my main current account has two deposits (my income and a small amount of interest), one standing order to the joint account and one DD to my credit card. That's it. Nice and simple.

All my personal expenditure goes on the credit card and that gets paid in full every month by the DD.

The joint account has two deposits (one from each of us) and about 6 or 7 DDs for bills, including the joint credit card.

It's been a long while since we applied for a mortgage but we've never had any problems. They mostly want to see that your income exceeds your outgoings!

Lumiona

I reckon quite a few hardened MSErs would be this way. I am after spending a lot of time on here. Lots of current accounts, I suspect it's 12+ at the moment. Only around 5 have regular transactions, often only cash in and back out to satisfy account terms. They all are £NIL at the end of the month with all spending done via cashback credit cards and all excess cash siphoned to interest bearing savings.

Bazzalona13295

Definitely not alone in doing this.

Although unlike some I don't have a credit card and do use my debit cards a fair bit (mainly for cashback/Yougov purposes), I really only use one or two current accounts regularly, the others tend to be the avenue to the better RS accounts, so the average balance would be very low.

adamp87

Not a problem really have a fair few but First Direct did email me a few months ago asking if I still wanted the account as I’d not done anything with it for at least a year. Suspect if I didn’t then change that they’d have closed it

masonic

HSBC group are particularly on it with respect to dormant accounts, but there is a general move to close down such accounts as it is perceived they pose a greater risk of takeover and use for financial crime than an active account that is likely being monitored more closely by the owner.

GeoffTF

Delree said:

Some jobs require people to examine bank statements to work out certain things, which are generated by activity on the account.

The jobs I can think of are those where there is fear that you might be subject to outside influence, e.g. bribery or blackmail. In that case, you will get tics in boxes if you are living within your means and your payments can be traced to living expenses or savings. Running up big debts or drawing out large amounts of cash would be concerns. Depositing large amounts of cash might also raise concerns.

born_again

It only becomes a issue when there is no usage for about 13 months. Then bank will start to look at it & warn you that it might be closed.

pochisoldi

Two bits to this:
1) Inactivity on a current account - the only issue is if you don't use the debit card at all, especially in the 6 months before it expires. If the card is not used, then a replacement may not be automatically issued. Banks usually let you know about this, and you can always request a debit card if one is not produced, but you may have to go to a branch to do this.
2) "All my spending is on a credit card, and clear it in full. Will this affect a mortgage application?"
In my experience, if you are using credit cards for cashback and/or cashflow management, and are clearing the previous month's bill in full, mortgage providers won't be interested.

The last time I applied for a mortgage the mortgage offer said I was supposed to clear £x from card A, and £y from card B.
The reality was that £x and $y happened to be the balance of the two cards when I applied. That statement had been paid off two months before I completed. I continued to use the cards in the meantime, paying off the statemented balance by full direct debit.

Nobody complained that my card balance never returned to zero and if they did, I would have simply produced a years worth of statements showing (a) the previous month's balances being cleared in full, and (b) the cashback that I would have lost if I had adhered to their request.

I took the conditions of the offer to mean "No ongoing outstanding balance", not "no use of credit cards".