All banks use a credit reporting agency, a seperate one. You never discovering this just shows you and those you surround yourself with have never had to deal with it. Thats nice, but also a privliged and ignorant position.

If you think banks always check your credit score then you are just wrong, plain and simple. In Norway you'll always be notified when someone check your credit score, along with what data was provided, who requested it and when.

    A bank checking your credit score just because you want to create an account would be a huge invasion of privacy.

Really? How else can a bank decide how much credit to extend you? Please bear in mind that allowing someone to have a bank account is part of the credit relationship.

If you need credit then they can and probably will check your credit.

There is no reason for the bank to check your credit score if you're only using your own money.