Does Opening a Savings Account Affect Your Credit Score?

Lenders use your credit score as a barometer to loosely gauge the probability that you will pay back your debts if the company loans you money. A credit score is generally composed of five factors, each of which is weighed differently. Certain actions can negatively or positively affect your credit score. In general, opening a savings account will not affect your score.

Credit Score Composition

Payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit and the types of credit used all factor into your credit score, according to MyFICO.com. The biggest factors are your payment history and the amounts owed; combined, those two factors account for 65 percent of your overall score. The length of your credit history accounts for 15 percent; new credit accounts and the type of credit used account for 20 percent (10 percent each).

Bank Credit Policies

Opening a bank account may or may not impact your credit score, depending on the type of account and the bank's specific guidelines or procedures used with regard to new accounts. The effect depends on whether the bank does an "hard" or "soft" inquiry into a consumer's credit history. Hard inquiries request the consumer's credit score; such inquiries can affect a person's credit score, according to CreditReport.com. Often, banks use hard inquiries when determining how much overdraft protection is needed for the account, a practice usually reserved for checking accounts. Opening a savings account generally does not require a hard inquiry and will usually not affect your credit score.

Actions that Negatively Impact Credit

Some banks may require customers to maintain a specific balance in the account and can assess fees for failing to do so. By failing to pay the fees due, a consumer can negatively impact her credit score. Additionally, actions such as late payments, high credit balances and opening new credit accounts can harm your credit score.

Savings Account and Borrowing Money

Having a savings account may assist a borrower in securing a loan. According to BrokerOutpost.com, lenders often require borrowers to have certain "reserves" available and look at balances in borrower accounts, such as savings accounts, to determine how much reserves a borrower has. Opening a savings account may minimally affect a credit score if your credit score is good in general.