
A carefully coded response given by your bank when someone else asks how good a customer you are. A bank will never be derogatory about the person they are referring to so references will often be coded in this way and require a lot of reading between the lines. A typically good response is ‘Respectable and trustworthy, considered good for your figure and purpose’. Omission of words such as ‘trustworthy’ are important, and small variations have hidden meaning: - ‘considered good’ – OK - ‘should prove good’ – overstretched but might be OK - ‘we do not feel he would enter into a commitment he could not see his way clear to fulfill’ - dodgy.
The information will need to be requested in writing from the bank. The response can take one or two weeks to be received and will usually require the paying of a fee. This will need to be sent with the request so usually the turnaround time can be ascertained when contacting the bank to enquire about the price. Typically bank references will be used by landlords to assess potential tenants.
A wide range of information can be included on a reference such as how long there has been a banking relationship; what the average balances are; if any loans have been granted; when, why, and how often the account borrows; if there are secured loans and, by what collateral; date of latest financial statement on file with bank; and financial statement highlights.
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