# Would changing bank accounts affect my credit?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 19, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025 "2010-05-19T17:42:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/1 "2010-05-19T17:42:50Z")
I’m about to apply for an American Express card, but I also would like to switch banks sometime in the next two weeks. Would closing a bank account and opening a new one at a different bank affect my chances of being approved by AMEX?
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/2 "2010-05-19T18:04:18Z")
No, your bank accounts have no effect on your credit report. They report credit accounts only.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/3 "2010-05-19T18:32:20Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> No, your bank accounts have no effect on your credit report. They report credit accounts only.
Not necessarily true. When opening a new account, the bank may pull your credit report. Usually, when someone pulls your credit report, this gets listed on your credit report - this is called a hard inquiry. This information will stay on your report for 24/25 months.
The more hard inquiries you have on your report, the lower your score. It really starts to have an impact when you get up around 5 or more. Note that many times, several hard inquiries in a short time will be ‘lumped together’ and reported as only 1 hard inquiry. In addition, sometimes the inquirer doesn’t have it listed on your report (this was the case for me recently in regards to a quote for condo hazard insurance). And sometimes, it will show up a Transunion, but not Equifax, or whatever other inexplicable combination.
This shouldn’t affect your score by more than 5 points or so, but the system is fairly opaque, so it’s hard to be sure. You can, of course, ask the bank in question whetehr they will make a hard inquiry. It is generally accepted that hard inquiries make up about 10% of your overall credit score.
[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/29/earlyshow/contributors/raymartin/main551521.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/29/earlyshow/contributors/raymartin/main551521.shtml)
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/4 "2010-05-19T18:48:10Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#):
>
> When opening a new account, the bank may pull your credit report.
Not typically. Ask the bank if they intend to to do a credit search, before you open the account.
Besides, with AMEX, the basic green card is either pass/fail. There is no credit limit, as you are expected to pay off your balance every month. I doubt a credit check on your credit composite will affect your application.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/5 "2010-05-19T18:54:52Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#):
>
> Not necessarily true. When opening a new account, the bank may pull your credit report.
In the highly unlikely event that a bank pulls your credit report before offering you an account, it will be a soft pull. Hard pulls are only permitted in response to an application for credit.
A hard pull _may_ be performed if you sign up for line-of-credit type overdraft protection.
In any case, the actual amount that hard pulls affect one’s score is vastly overestimated. It takes a suspicious amount of hard pulls within a short time frame to set off a risk flag.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/6 "2010-05-19T19:09:18Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> It takes a suspicious amount of hard pulls within a short time frame to set off a risk flag.
Your credit score changes with the number of pulls you have. It may stay the same if you go from 3 to 4, but it will definitely change when you get to 5. A change in score is a change in score, it doesn’t have to come with flag.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/7 "2010-05-19T19:16:06Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> Hard pulls are only permitted in response to an application for credit.
Cite?
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/8 "2010-05-19T19:23:50Z")
IANA banker, but in my experiences with them banks do not routinely perform full credit checks when opening new accounts, however most major banks will run you through [ChexSystems](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChexSystems), which is not a full credit check but rather a report of your negative activities regarding bank accounts(outstanding negative balances, excessive overdrafts, etc.). AFAIK a ChexSystem inquiry is not necessarily reported on your full credit report.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/9 "2010-05-19T19:31:08Z")
To all, my original post stated that:
“the bank may pull your credit report”
I did not include an indication of the likelihood of this occurence, because it is irrelevant - the OP can just ask the bank if it will. Then decide.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/10 "2010-05-19T19:45:45Z")
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List of Banks that make hard pulls
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### Author:  [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-changing-bank-accounts-affect-my-credit/540025/11 "2010-05-19T20:14:59Z")
Thanks for the responses so far.
> [@Wilbo523](#):
>
> Not typically. Ask the bank if they intend to to do a credit search, before you open the account.
>
> Besides, with AMEX, the basic green card is either pass/fail. There is no credit limit, as you are expected to pay off your balance every month. I doubt a credit check on your credit composite will affect your application.
Speaking of which, any idea what my credit rating needs to be to qualify for the green card?