Opening a savings account

As a digital bank, we use an online tool, and information provided by Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs), to check that your bank account is registered to your name and address. This helps us confirm your identity and protect against fraud and money laundering.

When submitting your nominated current account details, it’s important you check that:

• Your bank details are correct• The bank account is registered in your name and at your current address• Your bank accepts faster payments

Although some companies offer alternative ways of verifying details, such as bank statements, we’ve made the conscious choice to continue verifying our customer’s details 100% online. This helps us keep costs low so that we can offer the best rates for our customers.

This also means, however, that if your bank account hasn’t been shared with CRAs just yet, we won’t be able to verify your details online successfully. This issue impacts a number of different bank accounts, partly because the industry standard for current account details to be shared with CRAs was only introduced in 1998.

• If you’re an existing customer, it means you won’t be able to update your nominated current account using your new preferred details.• If you’re a new customer attempting to open a Chetwood Bank savings account, it means we won’t be able to help you with a savings account.

This issue can sometimes be resolved by speaking to your bank directly and giving your consent for them to share your bank account information with CRAs. It can take approximately eight weeks for your bank account to show on your credit file, so we recommend waiting for at least this length of time before trying again.

We ask you to link a nominated current account to keep your money safe and secure, and to comply with anti-fraud and anti-money laundering regulations.

A nominated current account is the personal UK current account that you tell us about when you apply for a Chetwood Bank savings account. You must pay your savings deposits to us from your nominated current account, or from another savings account that you hold with us. 

If you make a withdrawal (either from an Easy Access account, or if you choose to have savings from a Fixed Rate account paid to you at the end of the savings term), your money will be paid into your nominated current account. Your nominated current account must be able to make electronic payments. 

Please be aware that if you attempt to pay into your savings account from any account other than your nominated current account, it will be returned to you as we're only able to accept transfers from the nominated current account. This is one of our security measures to help keep you and your money safe.

We verify your identity online when you're opening a savings account with us. We do this through a number of electronic tools, one of which is by confirming your details through Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs). This is not a credit check though, and it will not impact your credit score.  

As an online bank, it's really important that we're able to verify your identity before you open your account. If we can't verify your identity, you won't be able to open a Chetwood Bank savings account.

We'll confirm your address, identity and nominated current account details before opening a savings account for you. We'll complete these checks using a number of online tools, including credit reference agency databases. This will be done in line with our Privacy Policy. Please be assured that this is not a credit check, and it will not impact your credit score.

As a regulated bank, it's really important that we verify your identity before we can open your account. If we're unable to verify your identity, we won't be able to open an account for you.

Yes, you can open multiple savings accounts with us. The best way to do this is to sign into your existing savings account and click 'Apply' in the top navigation.

Please remember that the maximum protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is £85,000. This applies to the total of any savings you have with Chetwood Bank and SmartSave, either directly or via our partners. Find out how the FSCS protects your money.