Obviously, whenever you apply for a credit card you expect them to perform a credit check, which will ding your credit score a bit temporarily. But sometimes even opening a savings account can cause a hard inquiry. I figured I’d share based on my 3 free credit reports what banks did and did not pull my credit, partially for my own memory.
Banks with Credit Check
Bank of America Checking (none for subsequent accounts)
Presidential Bank Checking (none for subsequent accounts)
Pentagon Federal CU Checking (signed up for overdraft protection)
Citibank Checking
Banks without Credit Checks
Emigrant Direct Savings
Capital One 360 Savings
VirtualBank Savings
Metlife Bank Savings
HSBC Bank Checking + Savings
Brokerages without Credit Checks
Fidelity Taxable
Ameritrade Taxable
ex24 Taxable
Sharebuilder Taxable
TradeKing Taxable
Vanguard IRA
MB Trading Taxable
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Did you know that if a mortgage broker pings your credit several times in a single day to get you a good rate, it only counts as one check? That’s a big change from the way things were done in the past.
Excellent post! This is very helpful to me because I’ve been putting off quite a few things until “after” my closing date. I think my broker will probably pull my credit one more time and I didn’t want him to see any new inquiries.
Thanks for the info!
Scottrade (taxable) did a hard credit pull on me. It showed up on my experian report.
mapgirl – Yes, I think I’ve read that many places. I think it’s more like a week or so, so that people are allowed to shop for rates.
SingleMom – Just to note that some of these are from a year ago, they may have changed their policies. You can pretty much tell from my blog when I applied though 🙂
Loi – Thanks, good to know. I knew some brokerages did credit checks. Did you apply for a margin account? I should add that I have a margin account at Ameritrade I-Zone, but nowhere else.
If you happen to live in the DC area (like me), you can sign up for your account at a Presidential branch instead of online and avoid the hard credit check.
The Scottrade is not a margin account.
Forgot I opened MB Trading brokerage account as well with no credit pull.
I can confirm that Scottrade did a hard pull on me last fall when I signed up. Just a standard brokerage account…no margins, etc.
T-Mobile did a hard pull on my credit check when signing up for a new plan
I think HSBC Premium checking looks at Equifax
Just checked my credit report. I had opened a BofA checking account in August. Opened a BofA savings in September. They pulled a credit report for both of them.
RainmanzMoney.wordpress.com reports that Equifax will delete non-credit inquiries from your Equifax credit file with a simple phone call. It doesn’t work with TransUnion or Experian. You just need a copy of your Equifax credit report before you call.
See http://tinyurl.com/ydy4g5
Non-credit inquiries are generally illegal unless you give permission. Under the FCRA they must have a permissible purpose to pull your credit report. Permissible purposes are applying for credit, insurance, or employment. Opening a savings account or non-margin brokerage account is not a permissible purpose. If they pulled a credit report for something like that, and did not get your explicit permission, you can sue them under the FCRA, and you can demand that the inquiry be removed.
How long before a new mortgage shows up in a credit report?
AmTrust Direct does a hard credit pull for their online savings.
I went to HSBC bank and applied for a checking account. They DID pull my credit file because of the verification questions they asked to verify my identity could only have been gotten from my credit file.
You might want to take this bank off your list of ones that DO NOT pull credit files.
Thank you.
Peggy – Those verification questions are based on your credit file, put is part of the Experian ID verification service that they sell. It does not mean you had the type of credit check that hurts your credit, a “hard” credit pull. Have a nice day!
i opened a wamu, chase, bank of america, mb first mid west they all accepted me wit no credit check
I opened an account at First Federal Bank in person and was told there would be a “soft inquiry” — one that does not affect your FICO score. Wow tell Experian, Equifax that because it calls the First Federal pull “hard”. Banks shouldn’t mislead customers–they always remember it.
I think they just want to browse your credit. Goes beyond identity issues.
I opened a BOA MMA and checking account in November. They placed a hard inquiry. They also put 2 hard inquiries on a home closing and equity line they were pushing. Why do two separate inquiry for the same loan period?
for the longest, I’ve been trying to find a bank that pulls from experian and transunion. I have a better score with these two. any help?
I opened up a Wells Fargo Savings account online. They did a “hard” and “soft” pull on my credit. Had I known that they would do a hard inquiry, I probably wouldn’t have opened up the account.
Not to resurrect an old post, but have you tried http://www.creditservicer.com/pages/chexsystems-help/recommended-banks.php Consumers help keep this list updated.
Also, you can request a free online ChexSystems report from https://www.consumerdebit.com/consumerinfo/us/en/chexsystems/report/index.htm This is a free report
ING DOES pull HARD inquiry on credit report.
I recently applied for ING orange checking account and here is what I am copying from my Inquiries section on 3-credit reports.
INQUIRIES
Creditor Name Date of Inquiry Credit Bureau
INGDIRECT 11/27/2009 Equifax
This simply is beyond me that I am asking for no frills checking account with NO overdraft protection etc..then why bank has to peek into my credit worthiness.