Bank switching.

Nasqueron

jameseonline said:

Basically applying for multiple accounts in a short time can really damage your credit score, also you might not get all the accounts you apply for too.

I ended up getting a basic HSBC account and not their standard account because of that.

If you got a high enough score, don't need loans etc you should be ok.

Also in time your score can go up again, which is why I eventually got myself sorted out with a standard HSBC account, then ditched the basic one as having the basic stopped me getting their regular saver

Fortunately the "score" you see is meaningless as no-one but you ever sees it. It can rise and fall as much as it likes, when you do a credit application, firms take the data on your file and run it through their own scoring system (you will never see this for commercial reasons) and make a decision. A high score or low score is not what helps or hinders you getting credit, only the data on file.

Applying for lost of current accounts together, provided no overdraft is required, is fairly meaningless in the overall scheme of things as current accounts are not credit so while you will take the hit of a search, the impact is much less of an issue than taking out credit like a credit card or loan is.

jameseonline

Nasqueron said:

jameseonline said:

Basically applying for multiple accounts in a short time can really damage your credit score, also you might not get all the accounts you apply for too.

I ended up getting a basic HSBC account and not their standard account because of that.

If you got a high enough score, don't need loans etc you should be ok.

Also in time your score can go up again, which is why I eventually got myself sorted out with a standard HSBC account, then ditched the basic one as having the basic stopped me getting their regular saver

Fortunately the "score" you see is meaningless as no-one but you ever sees it. It can rise and fall as much as it likes, when you do a credit application, firms take the data on your file and run it through their own scoring system (you will never see this for commercial reasons) and make a decision. A high score or low score is not what helps or hinders you getting credit, only the data on file.

Applying for lost of current accounts together, provided no overdraft is required, is fairly meaningless in the overall scheme of things as current accounts are not credit so while you will take the hit of a search, the impact is much less of an issue than taking out credit like a credit card or loan is.

Sorry but can't fully agree with you, the credit score etc apps even tell you that applying for several accounts in a short time can damage the score and in personal experience it has done & I got turned down for a HSBC standard account because of it.

Even my recent Ulster Bank account an app advising me not to open any new accounts in next 6 months.

Thankfully I don't deal with loans, mortgages etc.

eskbanker

jameseonline said:
Sorry but can't fully agree with you, the credit score etc apps even tell you that applying for several accounts in a short time can damage the score and in personal experience it has done & I got turned down for a HSBC standard account because of it.

They would say that, wouldn't they?!  Their business revolves around convincing gullible customers that an invented 'score' has monetisable significance, but the point remains that hard searches and applications leave a footprint on credit files, and it's that data that's visible to prospective lenders, rather than a fictitious number intended to condense it down to a single figure....

jameseonline

eskbanker said:

jameseonline said:
Sorry but can't fully agree with you, the credit score etc apps even tell you that applying for several accounts in a short time can damage the score and in personal experience it has done & I got turned down for a HSBC standard account because of it.

They would say that, wouldn't they?!  Their business revolves around convincing gullible customers that an invented 'score' has monetisable significance, but the point remains that hard searches and applications leave a footprint on credit files, and it's that data that's visible to prospective lenders, rather than a fictitious number intended to condense it down to a single figure....

Fine the "searches" then, it's all tied up/linked and amounts to the same thing though.

Either way I believe I answered the original question properly, in best intent etc

[Deleted User]

Nasqueron said:

[Deleted User] said:

eskbanker said:

Opening current accounts generally entails a hard credit search each time, which can be an issue for some.

So if you are opening accounts to make dummy one try to spread them out over a longer period?
And not open 1 or 2 in say a month?
Thank you for replying. 

You can do as many as you like, the issue will be if you have a mortgage search coming up and it's generally advised to avoid hard searches for several months before. I have done 9-10 over the least 3 years and had no issue getting credit, barring 1 cc (and got a different one a few months later) but I don't have any loans, only 0% BT debt

Good to know.
Thanks.

Nasqueron

jameseonline said:

Nasqueron said:

jameseonline said:

Basically applying for multiple accounts in a short time can really damage your credit score, also you might not get all the accounts you apply for too.

I ended up getting a basic HSBC account and not their standard account because of that.

If you got a high enough score, don't need loans etc you should be ok.

Also in time your score can go up again, which is why I eventually got myself sorted out with a standard HSBC account, then ditched the basic one as having the basic stopped me getting their regular saver

Fortunately the "score" you see is meaningless as no-one but you ever sees it. It can rise and fall as much as it likes, when you do a credit application, firms take the data on your file and run it through their own scoring system (you will never see this for commercial reasons) and make a decision. A high score or low score is not what helps or hinders you getting credit, only the data on file.

Applying for lost of current accounts together, provided no overdraft is required, is fairly meaningless in the overall scheme of things as current accounts are not credit so while you will take the hit of a search, the impact is much less of an issue than taking out credit like a credit card or loan is.

Sorry but can't fully agree with you, the credit score etc apps even tell you that applying for several accounts in a short time can damage the score and in personal experience it has done & I got turned down for a HSBC standard account because of it.

Even my recent Ulster Bank account an app advising me not to open any new accounts in next 6 months.

Thankfully I don't deal with loans, mortgages etc.

The score you see is never seen by a lender.
The score you see is never used by a lender to make decisions on credit. 
You were not turned down because of your fictional score.

As I said, the data on your file, including searches, is what is used to determine credit worthiness, not the gimmick score. The lender does a search on your credit history (including hard searches, open debt, any missed payments, defaults etc etc) and puts it through their own systems, this produces a score internally that you will never see (to stop people gaming the system). The score they generate may be similar to the score you see, if may be completely different - for example if you had a default 5 years ago and had since managed your credit file perfectly, someone like Experian might say your score was 960/999 but lender A automatically rejects anyone with a default so their internal score says 0 and you fail the credit check. That is why the number you see should always be ignored.

The CRAs make money by pushing people to believe the score is meaningful (in my opinion, to normalise scoring here so they can move us to the US model where the score runs your life) and the more data they have on you, the more they can sell. An example is Experian Boost - by linking your current account, they bump your score (assuming it's not empty!) but they also harvest all your transaction data to advertise more credit to you as they get referral fees if you click through and apply.