Personal Finance Bank accounts

Does closing a bank account affect your credit score?

Emma-Jane Stogdon

28.03.25

Read time 2 minutes

There are many factors that affect a credit score in the UK, including maxing out your credit card and missing scheduled payments. But does closing a bank account affect your credit score? You can find the answer to this question below, along with more information about how to keep a good credit history.

This information included in this article does not constitute professional financial advice. For this, we recommend speaking to an independent financial advisor.

Can closing an account affect your credit score?

Yes - but it’s not totally black and white. While closing an account can impact your credit score, it depends on your individual financial situation, the health of your account and your overall credit history.

Ways it can affect your credit score

There are a few ways that closing a bank account can affect your credit score. We’ve delved into some of these below.

Credit utilisation

This is how much of your credit card limit you’ve used that's available to you, including across all your cards. It’s expressed as a percentage, with a lower number generally being better for your score. Keeping an account open means its limit counts toward your total available credit.¹

Average account age

Closing a bank account that you’ve had for a long time can shorten your credit history and impact your score as a result. Long relationships with the accounts you hold may be interpreted as a way of showing that you are financially responsible.

Credit history

The more positive credit relationships you have, the better. Even if your account is empty or no longer being used, closing it could temporarily lower your credit score simply because it's a positive credit relationship that's not active anymore.

How to reduce or minimise the impact

If you do want to close your account, you can still reduce or minimise the impact it will have using the tips below. As helpful as these might be, note that they shouldn’t be used as professional financial advice.

Before you close your account, contact your bank or provider to make sure you don’t have a negative balance
Consider any pending or outstanding transactions that could make your balance negative after you've closed the account
If you are notified of a negative balance in your closed account, take care of it as quickly as possible
Regularly review your credit score using a credit score checker site such as ClearScore or Experian to spot any changes
Always speak to a financial advisor for more specific ways to minimise the impact of closing your account

Do all accounts require credit checks?

No, not all financial accounts require credit checks, like Wise. No credit checks mean it’s quicker to open a new account, not to mention no extra records will appear on your credit history.

To summarise, while closing a bank account can affect your credit score, it also depends on the health of the account when you close it and if your overall credit history is in good stead. Always keeping an eye on your credit score means you can identify any changes as soon as they happen.

Sources used:

1. Experian - benefits of utilisation rate with open accounts

Sources last checked: 13th February 2025

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This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.