A new bank account does not affect your credit score
Opening a checking or savings account at a bank or credit union does not show up on your credit report and will not lower your credit score. Banks do not report deposit account activity to the three credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Your credit score is built only from borrowing and repayment history: credit cards, loans, mortgages, and payment records. A deposit account is not a loan, so it generates no credit data.
The only time a bank account opening might touch your credit is if the bank runs a hard inquiry to verify your identity or check for fraud risk. This happens rarely and usually only with certain account types or at certain institutions. Even when it does happen, the impact is small and temporary.
Key Takeaways
- Opening a checking or savings account does not appear on your credit report and will not change your credit score.
- Banks check ChexSystems (a banking history database) when you open an account, not your credit report.
- A hard credit inquiry during account opening is uncommon but possible; if it happens, it may lower your score by a few points for a few months.
- Closing an old account and opening a new one does not hurt your credit, though closing old credit cards can lower your score.
Why banks don't check your credit report
When you open a deposit account, the bank is not assessing your ability to repay a loan. They are verifying that you are who you say you are and checking whether you have a history of fraud or overdraft abuse. For this, they use ChexSystems, a separate database that tracks checking and savings account history. ChexSystems records things like unpaid overdrafts, closed accounts due to fraud, and repeated NSF (non-sufficient funds) fees—but it is not your credit report and does not feed into your credit score.
Some banks also use Early Warning Services (EWS), another banking history system. Neither ChexSystems nor EWS is a credit bureau. A bank checking your ChexSystems record leaves no mark on your credit file.
When a bank might run a hard credit inquiry
Most banks do not pull your credit report when you open a standard checking or savings account. However, some institutions—particularly online banks, credit unions, or banks offering premium accounts—may run a hard inquiry as part of their identity verification or fraud prevention process. This is the exception, not the rule.
If a hard inquiry does occur, it will show on your credit report and may lower your score by a few points. The impact is usually small: a hard inquiry typically reduces your score by 5 to 10 points, and the effect fades after three to six months. After two years, the inquiry stops affecting your score at all, though it remains visible on your report for seven years.
You can ask the bank before you explore whether they will run a hard inquiry. If they do, ask them to note on your process that you consent to it. This protects you if the bank later disputes the inquiry.
The difference between opening a deposit account and opening a credit account
Opening a credit card or taking out a loan is different. Both trigger a hard inquiry and create a new account on your credit report. A new credit card can lower your score by 10 to 45 points because it lowers your average account age and increases your total available credit (which affects your credit utilization ratio). A new loan also lowers your score initially, though the effect is usually smaller than with a credit card.
A deposit account—checking, savings, money market—does none of this. It does not appear on your credit report at all, so it cannot lower your score through account age, utilization, or inquiry. The only risk is the rare hard inquiry itself.
What happens if you close an old account and open a new one
Closing a deposit account and opening a new one at a different bank will not hurt your credit. Deposit accounts do not affect your credit score, so switching banks is a credit-neutral move. You may see a record of the closed account in your ChexSystems history, but that does not lower your credit score.
If you are closing a credit card account at the same time, that is a different story. Closing a credit card can lower your score because it reduces your total available credit and may increase your credit utilization ratio (the percentage of your available credit that you are using). But closing a deposit account alone has no credit impact.
How to minimize any risk when opening a new account
If you are concerned about a hard inquiry, you can take a few steps. First, call the bank before you visit or explore online and ask whether they run a hard inquiry for deposit accounts. Many banks will tell you directly that they do not. Second, if you are opening multiple accounts in a short time, try to do it within a two-week window. Multiple hard inquiries for the same type of credit (in this case, banking) sometimes count as a single inquiry for credit scoring purposes, though this rule applies more strictly to mortgage and auto loan shopping than to deposit accounts.
Third, if the bank does run a hard inquiry, do not worry. The impact is temporary and small. Focus instead on the account features that matter to you: fees, interest rates, customer service, and whether the bank offers the tools you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will opening a savings account lower my credit score?
No. Savings accounts do not appear on your credit report. The bank will check ChexSystems, not your credit file. A hard credit inquiry is rare for savings accounts, but if one occurs, it may lower your score by a few points temporarily.
Does switching banks hurt my credit?
No. Closing one deposit account and opening another does not affect your credit score. Deposit accounts are not reported to credit bureaus. The only exception is if the bank runs a hard inquiry during the new account opening, which is uncommon.
What is ChexSystems and how is it different from my credit report?
ChexSystems is a banking history database that tracks overdrafts, fraud, and account closures. It is not a credit bureau and does not affect your credit score. Banks use it to decide whether to open an account for you, but it has no connection to your credit file.
Can opening a checking account affect my ability to get a loan later?
Opening a checking account will not affect your loan approval. Lenders look at your credit report and credit score, not your deposit account history. A hard inquiry during account opening might lower your score slightly, but the effect is small and temporary.
Should I worry about a hard inquiry when opening a bank account?
Most banks do not run a hard inquiry for deposit accounts, so there is likely nothing to worry about. If one does occur, the impact is minor—typically 5 to 10 points—and fades within a few months. You can ask the bank in advance whether they will pull your credit.