So I'm debating whether to open a Citi eSavings account. On top of that, they have a 6 Month CD @ 5.5%, but I worry that having too many savings accounts hurts my credit and opens me up for more potential fraud.
Right now, I have 3 savings accounts, 2 checkings accounts opened.
How many savings, and checking accounts for that matter, would you open? How many do you have open?
EDIT: I'd like to clarify that it's not the savings accounts that hurt credit, in fact having accounts opened for long periods of time may actually benefit your credit score. Rather it's the hard credit check that sometimes happens, depending on who you are opening the account with, that actually would lower your credit score.
Also, to clarify "opens me up for more potential fraud," I mean that having more accounts means more "holes" that could be attacked.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
How Many Savings Accounts Are Too Many Savings Accounts?
So I'm debating whether to open a Citi eSavings account. On top of that, they have a 6 Month CD @ 5.5%, but I worry that having too many savings accounts hurts my credit and opens me up for more potential fraud.
Right now, I have 3 savings accounts, 2 checkings accounts opened.
How many savings, and checking accounts for that matter, would you open? How many do you have open?
EDIT: I'd like to clarify that it's not the savings accounts that hurt credit, in fact having accounts opened for long periods of time may actually benefit your credit score. Rather it's the hard credit check that sometimes happens, depending on who you are opening the account with, that actually would lower your credit score.
Also, to clarify "opens me up for more potential fraud," I mean that having more accounts means more "holes" that could be attacked.
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8 comments:
Between me and my wife, we have a total of 5 saving accounts and 1 checking account. I believe that it doesn't affect credit scores, or increases the chance of fraud. Go for it. I don't see any type of money market or savings account going to 5.5% within 6 months anyway.
Flexo,
It depends on how you look at it...bankdeals.blogspot.com points out, "Citibank does a hard credit inquiry for opening this account. This can be avoided if you already have a Citibank account."
If they do a hard credit check, that means it could hurt my credit.
As far as the fraud comment goes, that's just because I have one more account that someone could hack into...
I have 1 checking and 4 savings that serve different purposes. If the account is offering something that entices you, I say go for it.
You may want to make it clear to your readers that a hard inquiry hurts your credit not the savings account per se'.
I don't have an account with Citi so I can't confirm if they pull a hard but I do know that my four savings accounts did not.
SingleMa, Thanks for the feedback...I've added the clarification...
I suppose it depends on what you want the accounts for. I would just stick with one that has a high rate if you are just looking for that, because the tiny amount of difference it makes doesn't seem worth it. But if you are getting bonuses for opening them, then I would do it and close the account as soon as the terms allow. I don't think having a couple of hard checks from banks is a terrible thing... are you looking to get a loan soon?
I don't think there is anything wrong with having several accounts. Right now combined my wife and I have six checking accounts and six savings accounts. Of these 12 accounts, I earned bonus money on all but 3.
Having the accounts does not hurt your credit score. As noted, it is only if the bank does a hard credit inquiry that it will have an effect. It is also worth noting that most banks will do an inquiry of ChexSystems (database of bounced checks and deposit account charge-offs mostly) when opening a new account. Generally banks will not open a new account if you have had three or more inquiries in the past 90 days.
savings accounts are not related to credit scores.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.
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