Does moving your bank account affect your credit score?

Last Modified 2nd of March 2021

As a rule the only things that should affect your credit score are things related to credit. A normal bank account isn’t a form of credit and therefore, in general, moving to a different bank account should not affect your credit rating or your credit score.

However…

It is possible that moving bank could affect your score or your ability to get credit, here’s why:

In credit applications you might need to list your bank accounts, and a change in this information could make it harder for the credit agency to ‘find’ you. Generally though, this is unlikely to be a problem unless something goes wrong.

If you had an overdraft at your old bank; it might have been helping your credit rating. If your new bank doesn’t give you a similar facility you will lose that benefit. Moving bank in search of better credit options is often a good way to boost your credit though, particularly if your current bank has turned you down for credit in the past.

Another consideration

While moving bank may not affect your credit score, it could still make it harder to get credit. Banks actually value loyalty and to an extent they will consider your history with them as well as the contents of your credit file when considering an application.

For this reason, many people actually find that it is easier to get credit from their existing bank than it is from specialist lenders or other banks. If you have been with your current bank for a while this is a point worth considering.

Additionally, if that fact does at some point cause you to struggle to get credit it might result in multiple credit checks while you search for a lender, which would affect your credit score.