Does opening a bank account affect your credit score?
Your credit score is one of the key tools lenders use to understand your financial behaviour, and it can affect everything from taking out a loan to setting up a phone contract.
But most people don't have a clear picture of what actually moves it – our research found only around a third of UK adults check their score regularly and understand what affects it, while roughly half either don't check at all or don't understand what drives the changes*.
Below we take a look at when opening a bank account does and does not affect your credit score, whether closing an account has any impact on your rating, and the difference between a hard and soft credit check.
What is a credit score?
Your credit score is a 3-digit number used to indicate how risky it would be to lend you money. As a general rule, the higher your credit score, the easier you’ll find it to borrow money and secure better rates of interest. The lower your credit score, the harder it’ll be for you to borrow money. Your credit score is informed by things like whether you pay your bills on time, whether you're on the electoral roll, and how you've managed credit in the past.
There are 3 main credit reference agencies (CRAs) in the UK: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Your credit score can differ across these CRAs. This is because each agency has its own rating system and scoring criteria.
However, your credit score isn’t only checked when you try to take out a loan, such as a mortgage. Your credit score may also be checked when you take out a new broadband or mobile contract, or open a bank account.
Does opening a bank account hurt your credit score?
Whether or not your credit is affected when you open a bank account depends on what type of account it is and what kind of credit check is carried out.
Your credit score may take a dip if you open a current account, and the banking provider carries out a hard credit check. If they carry out a soft credit check, your score won’t be affected.
If you try to open multiple current accounts in a short space of time, and they all require hard credit checks, this could result in a lowering of your score.
Savings account
Your credit score won’t normally be affected if you open a savings account, as most of the time providers run a soft credit check.
What's the difference between a soft and hard credit check?
A credit check is a way for a company to assess whether you're a suitable fit for the product you've applied for – particularly where it involves a credit facility, such as a loan or an overdraft. There are two types of credit check: a hard credit check, or search, and a soft credit check or search.
Hard credit check
When a company carries out a hard credit check, it looks at your entire credit history. Importantly, a hard credit check leaves a mark on your credit history that is visible to other companies carrying out a check in the future. This can cause your credit score to temporarily fall. A company must request your permission before carrying out a hard credit check. Hard checks are more common if the current account you’re applying for comes with an arranged overdraft.
Soft credit check
A soft credit check is a less extensive check that doesn’t leave a mark on your file. This means that a soft credit check won’t affect your credit score. When you check your own credit score, it is done through a soft credit check.
"A soft search is where we look at your credit file, but it doesn't leave a mark that anyone else can see. So when you're just shopping around and getting quotes, that's a soft search – and only if you go ahead and make a formal application does a hard search get registered," explains James King, Senior Product Manager at Zopa.
Can you open a bank account with only a soft credit check?
It is possible to open a current account with only a soft credit check, if that's all the bank requires. Zopa's free-to-open Biscuit current account is a good example. "You check a credit file when you need to make a credit decision," says Purnima Mani, Associate Director of Product Enablement at Zopa.
"As there's no arranged overdraft facility on Biscuit, there's no credit decision to be made on application." It means your credit history won't stand in the way of opening an account.
Open Biscuit with the Zopa app
Does switching current accounts affect your credit score?
As with opening an account, switching current accounts will only affect your credit score if the bank carries out a hard credit check when you apply.
Does closing a bank account affect your credit score?
It depends on what you're closing, and why.
If you close a current account you've had open for a long time, your credit history is effectively shortened, which can lead to a short-term dip in your score. The same applies if the account had a well-managed overdraft or credit card attached – closing it ends what was, on paper, a positive credit relationship, even if you'd stopped using it.
On the other hand, closing accounts you're not using at all can actually benefit your credit file. "Closing accounts you don't use tends to benefit your credit file – it reduces your potential exposure to debt," explains James.
"If you had 10 open credit cards with large credit limits, you could in theory take on a lot of debt tomorrow; closing the ones you don't use reduces that risk."
Either way, don't overthink it. As James puts it: "Closing an account is far less impactful than the things that really make a difference, such as making payments on time."
When should you avoid opening a new bank account?
If you intend to apply for a loan or a mortgage, it might be a good idea to hold off opening a new current account relies on a hard search until after your application is settled. This is because you don’t want to unnecessarily lower your credit score, even in the short-term.
What to do if your credit score is affected
"Most banks report to the credit reference agencies periodically, so there can be a lag between when you do something and when your credit file updates," says Purnima. "That's across the board, not specific to any one bank."
So if you've made a change and your score hasn't moved yet, that's normal – any dip from a hard search should also settle over time.
However, if your credit score suffers a longer-term dip due to making multiple hard searches over a short period, you should make sure that:
You are registered to vote.
You are paying your bills on-time.
You aren’t using too much of your credit card or overdraft limit if you have one.
There aren’t any mistakes on your credit report, such as a mistyped address.
FAQs
Does having two current accounts affect your credit score?
Having 2 current accounts will only affect your credit score if each account requires a hard credit check to open.
Can I open a current account if I have bad credit?
You should be able to open a basic current account if you have bad credit. This won’t have an overdraft.
Does my credit score go down if I open a savings account?
Your credit score shouldn’t go down if you open a savings account, as most providers only carry out a soft credit check.
Does opening a joint bank account with someone affect your credit score?
Opening a joint bank account with someone may lower your credit score if the person you are opening an account with has a poor credit history.
Open a Biscuit bank account
It won't affect your credit score. Download the Zopa app to get started.
*Censuswide consumer survey of 2,000 nationally representative UK adults, 5-8 June 2026.
