StephenWeinstein: Should an application to deposit (not borrow) money at First American Bank affect my credit score?
Bank of America® Privacy Assist® (which I obtained free as part of the settlement of a class action suit; I would not have paid for it or accepted the “free” trial that they offer) is saying that
1) “You applied for credit 1 time(s) in the past 12 months, as recorded in this credit report…This lowers your score.” This is listed first under “the top factors that lower your score”.
2) The only “Inquiries” is
FIRST AMBK
Date: 08-2007
3) The “Creditor Information” on my credit report includes
FIRST AMERICAN BANK
Address: 639 N. FAIRBANKS COURT
CHICAGO, IL 60611 Telephone: (847) 952-3700
First American Bank is not a creditor of mine and I did not apply for credit from them.
I did apply for an Health Savings Account (HSA) at First American Bank in 8/07, but that is a deposit, not a loan.
Should this affect my credit score in this way?
Because I did not apply for credit from First American Bank, should I dispute the incorrect information?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Jon K
Some banks do check your credit when you open a new bank account. I don’t think it should affect whether or not you are able to borrow.
Jon is right.
Many banks and credit unions will pull credit reports when a person tries to open checking, savings, etc. (the patriot act because of terrorism)
Most will only pull an inquiry from one CRA but some pull from two or all three.
When you applied for the savings account the fine print should have stated that they may check your credit.
Depending on your credit file, the inquiry may ding your score from only a couple points to seven or a bit higher.
If you have a thick file then your score may not have any impact from one inquiry.
I have never heard of the banks pulling credit before only Check Systems to see if you have ever closed a bank account with a negative balance. You will stay on Check Systems for 5 years if you have. Jon and Echo might be right though. I know that this Patriot Act and Homeland Security have really given the banks more control then they should have. I just had a client open an account with Wells Fargo and they have horrible credit. Was not a problem. I also, had a client open one up with Wescon Credit Union because he was on Check Systems. They have a program that includes an all day training class on how to handle a checking account and a 6 month probation period.
If you do not wish for anyone to pull credit unless it is in writing by you, Opt Out. There is a process that you can do and we have actaully seen scores go up after then did it. Only by a few points though. The creidt bureaus will deny that is true, but we have actually seen it happen.
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