Does a joint savings account affect your credit score?

You probably already know that borrowing with your partner can affect your credit history. This includes when you take out a joint loan or mortgage, and it’s even when you open a joint bank account together.

If you’ve had bad credit in the past, you might not want to open a joint bank account together as your credit history could then affect your partner’s. But is this the same when you open a joint savings account – will this affect your credit score? Let’s take a look at what joint saving accounts could mean for your borrowing ability in the future.

Savings and your credit history

Any savings accounts you open won’t affect your credit history. That’s because they don’t report to credit reference agencies – these are the companies that hold your credit report.

So if you’ve got a lot of savings, lenders can’t look at this when they’re deciding whether or not to let you borrow. And if you open a joint saving account with your partner, this won’t show up on your credit history.

A joint savings account could make it easier for you and your partner to contribute to a common savings goal – if you’re putting money towards a housing deposit, a car or a new kitchen, for example. It also means you won’t need to worry if you or your partner has a bad credit history – a joint savings account won’t affect the other’s credit.

Joint finances with your partner

Your partner’s credit rating can affect you if you take out a joint current account together. This is because it creates a financial link between the two of you – so if a lender credit checks you, your partner’s credit history could affect whether or not you can get credit.

Having a financial link with your partner isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, if you don’t have any credit history because you’ve never borrowed before and your partner has a strong credit history, this could help to build your credit score – and this could help you get credit in the future.

But if you or your partner has a bad credit history – you’ve had a lot of missed payments, CCJs or you’ve been bankrupt in the past – you might want to stay away from making a financial link to them. This is because the person with a bad credit history could have a negative effect on the other’s history.

Instead, you might be better concentrating on rebuilding your credit score by borrowing responsibly and signing up to the electoral roll. Once you’ve got your credit history back under control, you can think about combining your finances.

You could also get the joint thinkmoney Personal Account if you think you can’t get a joint account because of your credit history. We won’t credit check you when you apply and we can help you keep in control of your budgeting too. This means we’ll make it easier to pay your bills on time every month – so you’ll avoid any charges or fees.

The joint account comes with a monthly management fee of £15.95 – find out more about how it works here.