Your credit score is probably the important part of your finances because many financial institutions will use it to determine if you're eligible to hold an account with them.
Knowing this, many Robinhood users are wondering does Robinhood affect credit score? That's what we'll be seeing today.
Robinhood is a popular commission-free trading platform in the U.S..
Americans of all walks of life now have a lot more access to trading and stock investing thanks to Robinhood.
It's great for introducing people to the idea of investing in the stock market and, hopefully, getting them to start thinking about long-term financial goals, as Christopher Smith from Clark states.
Having said that, there are many trading platforms available today, but if you've chosen to trade on Robinhood, you might have wondered if doing so will affect your credit score. In my opinion, that's a question that deserves serious consideration.
That said, this article focuses on answering the question "does Robinhood affect credit score?."
Also Read: A Beginners Guide to Investing in Robinhood
Table of Contents
Does Robinhood Affect Your Credit Score?
No, your credit score won't be affected by Robinhood.
Robinhood, however, can have a variety of negative effects on your credit score, just like most financial services.
For instance, there are several factors that will affect your future credit score when you're opening a new account, such as whether you did so immediately or three months later when you applied for a loan.
In order for the business to open an account in your name, it is usually necessary to provide personal information.
Your social security number, driver's license number or state-issued ID number, birthdate, and mailing address are all included in this data.
A credit reporting agency like Experian or TransUnion will add the account to your credit report once you have successfully opened it. If you have good credit, Robinhood won't have any negative effects on your score.
However, Robinhood might hurt your credit score if you actually have bad credit or no credit at all.
A "hard inquiry" is added to your report whenever you apply for a financial service, more specifically an account with fluctuating debt. This can be compared to a "soft inquiry," which is when you check your score, and is ten times worse.
The credit bureaus will notice these inquiries each time you access your report and list them from most recent to least recent in chronological order.
Your score may be negatively impacted by this for up to two years after the score was created. Having said that, do not apply for Robinhood if you have poor credit, despite how alluring low trading fees are.
Although there are advantages to opening a new account with bad credit or to begin saving money in general at a young age, it will most likely have a negative impact on your score if you already have a history that has a negative impact on what was once a good score.
It is simple to put off opening new accounts until your credit score has increased to a decent level. It's simple to do; just put the money you were going to spend with Robinhood on stock trading into a high-yield savings account instead. When your credit has improved, you can begin using services like Robinhood.
However, there is no need to be concerned about it having any negative effects on your credit score if you already use the app and have good credit.
In addition, it's crucial to understand that not all credit agencies will be the same if you have bad credit or no credit at all but are still willing to take the chance of opening an account with Robinhood as a result of reading this article.
While one might display your inquiries from most recent to least recent, another might do it backwards, starting with the oldest. If this is the case for you, applying for other services soon may help your score if this is the case.
Also Read: How to Transfer Money from Robinhood to Bank Account
Does Robinhood Run a Credit Check?
No. Most financial services run a traditional credit check, but not Robinhood. Robinhood does not have to perform this specific process, which entails reviewing all three of your credit reports from the major bureaus.
You only need to provide Robinhood with your social security number and mailing address to open a new account.
After seeing how well you manage the stock market in general, they might actually run a credit check on you if you start adding different types of investments in the future, such as options or margin trading.
It's equally possible that they won't, though. Before allowing a potential client to use their services, Robinhood typically checks two things: the client's age and banking experience.
In conclusion, individuals under the age of 21 will probably not be required to present conventional identification documents like a driver's license or passport.
Because of this, it's possible that Robinhood will assume that your credit score is good or nonexistent if you're under 21 and have a reliable bank account.
They will then continue to use your banking history as identification instead when this occurs.
Also Read: How to Transfer Buying Power from Robinhood to Bank
What Are the Factors Robinhood Considers?
You will be asked a few straightforward questions when signing up for Robinhood that will help determine whether your credit score is high enough to use their services.
The majority of these inquiries concern your age and banking history, but there are two others that the Robinhood team may need to look into further.
Also Read: How to Make Money On Robinhood
Does Opening An Investment Account Affect Credit Score?
No. Opening an account with Robinhood has no further consequences as long as you have a solid credit history.
If your score falls below the average, you won't be denied service, but you'll probably need to provide more information when setting up your account to help them verify your identity.
Also Read: How to Transfer Stocks from Robinhood to TD Ameritrade
Does Robinhood Affect Taxes?
No, Robinhood has no bearing on your taxes, nor does it assist you in filing them. Only investments that you sell are subject to taxes.
You must still pay capital gains tax for each trade you make even though there are no fees associated with the trading process.
It's crucial to keep in mind that no actual cash trades are being made because this is a digital service.
This means that unless you have an account with a brokerage company that provides physical certificates, all transactions will be taxed as capital gains.
Also Read: How to Transfer Stocks from Robinhood to Fidelity
Final Thoughts
Your credit score is a financial pillar that keeps your financial life stable. Most financial institution use credit score to screen applicants. Not only do they screen applicants but they also report most of your financials transactions with them to credit reporting agencies like Experian or TransUnion.
Robinhood, on the other hand, does not affect your credit score directly, but can affect it indirectly most especially if you don't have a good credit score as explained in this article. Which is why, maintaining a good credit score is always important.