Opening a checking or savings account does not affect your credit score

Banks do not report checking or savings accounts to the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Your credit score is built only from credit activity: loans you have taken, credit cards you carry, and how you pay them. A checking account, no matter how much money sits in it, never appears on your credit report.

This is true whether you open the account online, at a branch, or through a credit union. It is also true whether the account is in your name alone or jointly with someone else. The bank may look at your credit during the process process, but opening the account itself does not create a credit record.

Key Takeaways

  • Checking and savings accounts are not reported to credit bureaus and do not appear on your credit report.
  • A bank may check your credit when you explore for an account, which creates a small, temporary dip in your score, but this is separate from the account itself.
  • The money in your account has no effect on your credit score, even if you have thousands of dollars saved.
  • Opening multiple bank accounts in a short time may trigger more credit checks, each of which causes a small score reduction that fades within weeks.

Why banks check your credit even though they won't report the account

When you open a checking or savings account, the bank runs what is called a soft pull or hard pull on your credit. A soft pull does not affect your score at all. A hard pull—which some banks do to assess risk—lowers your score by a few points, usually between 5 and 10 points, and the effect fades within a few weeks.

Banks check your credit to see whether you have a history of overdrafts, bounced checks, or unpaid accounts reported to ChexSystems, a separate banking history database. They are not deciding whether to lend you money. They are deciding whether you are likely to overdraw your account or leave it with a negative balance. The account itself, once opened, never gets reported to the credit bureaus.

If you open several accounts at different banks within a short period—say, within a month—each hard pull will lower your score slightly. The combined effect is temporary. Within 30 to 45 days, the score recovers, and after two years, the inquiries stop affecting your score at all.

The difference between a credit pull and a credit report entry

A credit pull is a moment-in-time check. A credit report entry is a permanent record that stays on your file. Opening a bank account may trigger a pull, but it never creates an entry. This is why you can open as many checking accounts as you want without damaging your long-term credit.

Your credit score is calculated from five categories: payment history (35 percent), amounts owed (30 percent), length of credit history (15 percent), credit mix (10 percent), and new credit inquiries (10 percent). A bank account does not fit into any of these categories because it is not credit.

When a bank account might indirectly affect your score

An account itself will not hurt your score, but what you do with the account can. If you overdraft your checking account and the bank sends the debt to a collection agency, that collection account will be reported to the credit bureaus and will damage your score. If you link your bank account to a credit card and miss payments on the card, the card issuer reports the missed payment—not the bank account.

Similarly, if you open a savings account as part of a secured credit card product, the credit card itself is reported to the bureaus, not the savings account. The account is collateral, but the credit activity comes from the card.

Joint accounts and authorized users

If you open a joint checking account with another person, the account is still not reported to either person's credit report. Both account holders can use the account, but neither person's credit score is affected by its existence or balance.

If someone adds you as an authorized user on their bank account, that also does not appear on your credit report. Authorized user status on a bank account is different from authorized user status on a credit card—credit card authorized users may see the card reported to their credit, but bank account authorized users do not.

What actually shows up on your credit report

Your credit report contains only credit accounts: credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, mortgages, student loans, and collection accounts. It also contains hard inquiries (credit pulls made by lenders), soft inquiries (which do not affect your score), and public records like judgments or liens. Bank accounts—checking, savings, money market, or certificates of deposit—never appear.

You can see what is on your credit report by requesting a free copy from AnnualCreditReport.com, the official site run by the three bureaus. The report will show every credit account you have, but no bank accounts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will opening a checking account lower my credit score?

The account itself will not lower your score. If the bank runs a hard pull, your score may drop a few points temporarily, but the effect fades within weeks. Most checking accounts do not require a hard pull at all.

Does having a lot of money in savings help my credit score?

No. The amount of money in your bank account has no effect on your credit score. Credit scores measure how you borrow and repay, not how much you save.

If I open accounts at multiple banks, will my score drop each time?

Each hard pull may lower your score slightly. If you open three accounts within a month and each triggers a hard pull, you may see a combined drop of 15 to 30 points. The effect is temporary and fades within weeks. After two years, the inquiries stop affecting your score.

Can a bank report my account to the credit bureaus later?

No. Banks do not report checking or savings accounts to credit bureaus under any circumstance. The account is not credit, so it has no place on a credit report.

What if I overdraft my account—does that hurt my credit?

An overdraft itself does not appear on your credit report. However, if you do not pay the overdraft and the bank sends it to collections, the collection account will be reported and will damage your score.