SoftKittyWarmKitty yes it can, in 2 ways (neither badly, if done right - the credit scoring system is just out to catch anyone being silly - everyone changes banks at some point so it's not out (or logical) to penalise anyone managing their accounts well).
- When you apply for a current acount, a credit search will be made against you (this is logged - too many in a short period of time is a red flag to credit agencies that you're struggling for cash or acting suspiciously - try not to go over 3 in a 6 month period). This is often performed even if you tick the "no overdraft" option on the account, because you might use the account to get credit with the account. No such checks / footprints are added when you open e.g. a savings account. Also, as mentioned, these searches become less important over time. If you accidently make too many in one month (car insurance due one month? applied for a mortgage that month? there's your two already!), the effect of this in 3 months, 6 months, etc is reduced dramatically.
- The age of the account (as you mentioned) can be a factor in building up trust in order to take out credit. BUt in both a good way and a bad way - not a lot of people realise the negatives. Firstly, if you've been with your bank a long time, that's seen as a good thing (indicates stabilit), but is just one of many factors that influence lending decisions (I shouldn't think a make or break factor... e.g. being on the elctoral roll would be a much bigger thing to ensure you've ticked off). Secondly - bad stuff that not many people are aware of - some VERY old accounts do NOT report good credit history to the CRAs. Many years ago, the systems weren't in place to report these reliably, or customers didn't get given terms/conditions that allowed this data to be regularly distributed... so you do find that for some customers with perfectly excellent credit scores (or, what should be)... when they eventually try to get credit, many of their very very old accounts are not counted. There was a relatively high profile case in one of the main newspapers recently (the Guardian?) where a consumer complained about this specific thing - no amount of fighting on the consumer's behalf got his excellent credit rating throughout the years sent to the CRAs... I think the best the consumer reporter managed to do is get the bank to start reporting their good financial management in future (i.e. authorise and arrange the data sharing, as would have happened to any new customer). Needless to say this person had a right to be mightily cheesed off! Having no credit footprint is almost as bad as having a bad credit footprint... because bad credit markers fall off your report after 6 years, but having a credit facility that is so old it isn't reported on your reports means you just won't have any history, and banks are increasingly scared of lending to unknown quantities.
P.s. one bit of further advice - ignore anything about "credit scoring" specifically - there isn't any such thing when you want to OBTAIN credit... places just use their own internal lending criteria, so don't be fooled by any online ads suggesting that they can raise your credit score from 458 to 678 for example - these are meaningless numbers. Just manage your money well, dont default, fix things as they happen.
And if any institution fucks up your account, always, always ask them to remedy any problems with your credit score if they appear. You have the right to get inaccurate information removed (go to the organisation who sent the incorrect info tothe CRA first, if they won't play ball, report them or if there's a grey area/ dispute, you ALWAYS have the option of adding a NOtice of Correction to your file to explain the problem). That's where so many people make mistakes... e.g. they have a catalogue account, a direct debit isnt taken due to the catalogue's own fault... they call, get an apology, take the money... they think the problem's solved. But it's possible that the catalogue will report a late payment marker on that customer's file the next month, which the consumer won't be aware of, which could affect them the next time they want a store card, or a mortgage, or even just a car insurance credit check result.
What's worse is that a depressing number of people that work in customer service have NO IDEA what you're asking when you ask them about credit report issues, too much bad training!
e.g. if you want a credit card, often you're best to ask a bank you already have an association with, as they can do a credit check which doesn't get externally reported, as they know you as a customer and the likliness of you getting accepted. Using the basic search isn't a gurantee that you'll get accepted, but if their basic search says they're not likely to give you a credit card, you're certainly not going to pass on the normal credit search!
I have actually closed a bank account for this exact reason myself - the CSR didn't know if they performed a full credit search for adding a card onto my account. Since they weren't helpful in getting a concrete answer for me, and that was the year we bought our first house, I wasn't prepared to risk having a full credit search reported by mistake. Oh well! Plenty of other providers to go with 