From Monday, 4 December 2017, Santander for Intermediaries (SfI) will be introducing a soft credit check process across all its intermediated mortgage business, providing customers with the peace of mind that their credit rating will not be affected at the early stages of applying for a mortgage.
When a mortgage agreement in principle (AIP) is submitted Santander will check an applicant’s credit report and make an enquiry search. This data will be held on file and will be valid for sixty days.
The applicant will be able to see a search if they request a copy of their credit file. However, it will not be visible to other financial institutions and will not affect an applicant’s ability to get further credit.
Once a full mortgage application (FMA) is submitted, a full credit enquiry, also known as a ‘hard’ credit check, will be registered and this will be visible to any other financial institutions who search a customer’s file.
Brad Fordham, Director of Mortgage Distribution, Santander UK commented: “We are very pleased to be introducing soft credit checks for our intermediary partners. With the recent rise in base rates, many people will be prompted to shop around for mortgages. Our soft search will enable customers to do this at Santander without the risk of affecting their credit rating.”
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Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 30 June 2017, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c19,500 employees and operates through 826 branches (which includes 61 university branches) and 65 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
About Us
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas, and is among the world’s top banks by market capitalization. At the end of June 2017, Banco Santander had EUR 1.65 trillion in managed funds, 131 million customers, 13,800 branches and 200,000 employees. Banco Santander made attributable profit of EUR 3.6 billion in the first half of 2017, an increase of 24% compared to the same period last year.
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Cecilia Cran T: 020 7756 4209 M: 07789 651947 E: cecilia.cran@santander.co.uk
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