Credit score in Malta

KatyAndrews wrote:

Hi everyone

Does your credit score from the UK follow you to Malta?

I have a good credit rating in the UK but my husbands is not great.

My husband is now the main breadwinner and we want to buy a house over in Malta.

We are going to rent for a few months first however I have got worries that we may be stuck renting if we cannot get a mortgage over there.

I am self-employed and my income is pro-rata being part-time and it is not a lot so we wanted to get my husband to apply.

I would appreciate any advice or if you know of any experts in Malta or the UK that we can talk to then I would appreciate your information.

I was going to apply for a Maltese bank account but the Bank of Valetta won't let me open an account until we arrive.

We are planning to go in the next 12 months and I have heard that cash is King so I am saving for a healthy desposit plus we will sell our current house in the UK and have some money.

Katy

Here in Malta we have Bank of Valletta,HSBC and Lombard Bank. You can check them out altogether. However, maltese banking is quite conservative and whenever you open an account over here they want to know about your previous bank connections.

Here I have the impression that your credit score will follow you from the UK to Malta.
My advice to you just ask the banks about it and eventually open a bank account with the bank which satisfies your questions best. Of course, as you may know the best solution is to get the information in writing. After that you know how to proceed.

Adding to the above post there's also the BNF bank which we use and have not had any problems.
Most people find it's easier to open an account with them then some of the other banks.

hanselmar wrote:

KatyAndrews wrote:

Hi everyone

Does your credit score from the UK follow you to Malta?

I have a good credit rating in the UK but my husbands is not great.

My husband is now the main breadwinner and we want to buy a house over in Malta.

We are going to rent for a few months first however I have got worries that we may be stuck renting if we cannot get a mortgage over there.

I am self-employed and my income is pro-rata being part-time and it is not a lot so we wanted to get my husband to apply.

I would appreciate any advice or if you know of any experts in Malta or the UK that we can talk to then I would appreciate your information.

I was going to apply for a Maltese bank account but the Bank of Valetta won't let me open an account until we arrive.

We are planning to go in the next 12 months and I have heard that cash is King so I am saving for a healthy desposit plus we will sell our current house in the UK and have some money.

Katy

Here in Malta we have Bank of Valletta,HSBC and Lombard Bank. You can check them out altogether. However, maltese banking is quite conservative and whenever you open an account over here they want to know about your previous bank connections.

Here I have the impression that your credit score will follow you from the UK to Malta.
My advice to you just ask the banks about it and eventually open a bank account with the bank which satisfies your questions best. Of course, as you may know the best solution is to get the information in writing. After that you know how to proceed.

There actually two more banks, missing from that list, APS and BNF banks

Thanks everyone I will go ahead and ask the banks for peace of mind so that we can sort things out if needed.

KatyAndrews wrote:

Thanks everyone I will go ahead and ask the banks for peace of mind so that we can sort things out if needed.

You probably will not get anywhere with the banks until you actually live here.

BOV do give give mortgages to non residents, but you will need letters showing you have excellent credit from your UK bank and also most likely need to be able to show that you have liquid assets like shares that are worth more than the amount you intend to borrow.

Likes others have said, its probably worth waiting til you get here.  Property is  very expensive here and the construction quality is very low so you are not getting a lot for your money.  Also you will lose a lot from the exchange rate while brexit is pushing sterling down.

Tim