Will Gambling Affect My Credit Rating
What you buy and where you shop may affect your credit score. As credit card companies continue to tighten their lending standards on card users, some are using purchasing data — gleaned from millions of card transactions processed daily — to weed out who may or may not be good credit risks. Casino credit is not the same as the credit extended by a bank or credit card company. The casino credit line is dependent upon your credit history and the 30 to 90 day average available cash in your checking account. Most casinos will check your credit rating with one of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion).
Put simply and based off of our extensive research, Matched Betting will not affect your credit score.
Firstly, I’d like to make one thing clear, Matched Betting is not gambling. There are some articles out there that state that ‘Betting’ affected someone’s credit score. The reality is that these individuals were not matched betting. Instead they were placing four figure bets with bookmakers and losing; it was this that ruined their credit score, not the general interaction with online bookmakers.
You may want to know what, exactly, lenders (of mortgages, car loans, ect) do when they run a credit check:
Credit information: This is information about any financial accounts, loans or credit cards you have, both open and closed (for the last 6 years). This includes bank accounts, credit cards, store cards, loans, mortgages and even some utility company information. Data stored includes information on when accounts were opened, what the credit limits were and how well they were managed. They’ll be able to see if you still owe anything or if you have ever defaulted on loans/payments.
County Court Judgements (CCJs): They will see if you’ve have had any CCJs in the past six years or if you’ve been bankrupt.
Fraud: If you have committed or been a victim of identity theft this will also be seen.
Other searches: Yes, some bookmakers do perform checks on you, but only to check your identity and to ensure there is no money laundering. Such checks are classed as unrecorded enquires. If a lender searches your background and details, this is classed as a recorded enquiry and will be visible to all future searches of your credit rating.
This last point is important. A bookmaker checking your credit report will only be visible to you, not future lenders because, it is an unrecorded enquiry. So, the act of being associated with bookmakers has no bearing on whether you meet the lender’s requirements.
So what about placing bets? Well, keep in mind that as matched bettors, we may occasionally be placing the odd £100 bet, but very rarely. In general, we’ll be placing anywhere between £10-£30 and this will not flag on a lender’s assessment of your credit rating.
Will Gambling Affect My Credit Ratings
What lenders will be looking for is clear indications of addiction. For example, the placing four figure bets with bookmakers and using your bank’s overdraft facility to do so. Actions like this will get you red flagged. However, such actions are far removed from matched betting.
So, to summarise; based on our extensive research and experience, opening multiple accounts with bookmakers will have no impact on your credit rating. Additionally, even if bookmakers make a search on you, these will not be visible to future lenders. The only time betting will be the sole reason for you being rejected for a loan, will be if you are gambling money you do not have.
Will Gambling Affect My Credit Rating Chart
Remember, Matched Betting is not, and never will be, gambling.