Credit Scores & Closing a Bank Account

Your credit score plays a vital role in your ability to obtain and use credit, but it is not affected by deposit accounts such checking or savings accounts. Credit scores are based on your credit transactions, such as using credit cards or obtaining a car loan, and closing or opening a bank account doesn't count.

Credit Score

When you apply for a loan, creditors want to know if you are a reliable borrower. They look at your credit report and credit score. Your credit report contains information about how you have used credit in the past, and a credit score is a numerical representation of your history calculated to determine your creditworthiness.

Bank Accounts

If you have a checking or savings account, your lending institution does not report your activity to the credit reporting agencies who compile credit reports. Bank accounts are not credit instruments. When you open bank account, you do not ask the lending institution to loan you money or extend credit in any way. Whenever you use, open or close any kind of bank account this information is not taken into consideration for calculating the credit score.

Banking Report

While closing a bank account doesn't affect your credit score, it may affect your consumer banking report. A consumer banking report, according to Bankrate, is similar to a credit report, but instead of detailing your activity as a credit user, it details your banking history. If, for example, you have a history of opening and closing accounts in order to take advantage of rewards programs offered by banks, this will be reflected in your banking history.

Banking and Credit

While your banking behavior doesn't show up on your credit report, that does not mean creditors ignore your banking behavior. Lenders often ask potential borrowers to include information about their bank accounts so the creditor can inspect your banking report. If you have a negative banking history, a creditor may use that information to deny you credit even though that information won't appear on your credit report or impact your credit score.