Does soft credit check affect credit score

General Banking Queries


Personal

0345 300 0000

From abroad:

+44(0)1733 347 007.

Calls may be monitored and recorded in case we need to check we have carried out your instructions correctly and to help us improve our quality of service.

Business

0345 072 5555

From abroad:

+44(0) 1733 347 338

From a textphone:

0345 601 6909

Our automated system is available 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. Our Business Advisers are available Monday to Friday 7am to 8pm, and Saturday 9am to 2pm.

Also known as a hard credit check, a hard inquiry happens when a lender checks your credit report after you apply for credit. “When you apply for credit, you authorize those lenders to ask or ‘inquire’ for a copy of your credit report from a credit bureau,” credit-scoring company FICO® explains.

This type of credit inquiry does have an impact on your credit scores. According to FICO, a hard inquiry can lower your credit scores—usually by just a few points. The CFPB explains why: Credit-scoring models generally look at how recently—and how often—you’ve applied for credit.

Requesting a credit limit increase may also trigger a hard inquiry, but that can depend on the lender’s policies, how they access your credit and your specific circumstances.

How Many Hard Inquiries Are Too Many?

When lenders are evaluating your credit risk, one of the factors that they’ll look at is the number of hard inquiries on your credit report. If you apply for many credit products in a short period of time, lenders may view this as an indication that you may be a greater risk than other borrowers. 

While one or two inquiries may not cause a red flag, having several on your credit report could have a negative impact on your ability to qualify for financing or result in higher rates for approved financing.

How Long Do Hard Credit Checks Stay on Your Credit Report?

Hard inquiries may stay on your credit reports for up to two years. However, hard inquiries that are more than a year old might not affect your scores. If you continue to make on-time payments and keep your credit utilization rate low, you should be able to bring your credit back up fairly quickly.

As Equifax®, one of the three major credit bureaus, explains, “Hard inquiries serve as a timeline of when you have applied for new credit and may stay on your credit report for two years, although they typically only affect your credit scores for one year.”

FICO confirms that this is how their credit scores work: “Although FICO Scores only consider inquiries from the last 12 months, inquiries remain on your credit report for two years.”

Through December 31, 2023, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax will offer all U.S. consumers free weekly credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com to help you protect your financial health during the sudden and unprecedented hardship caused by COVID-19.

In this article:

  • How Does a Soft Inquiry Work?
  • Can You See Soft Inquiries on Your Credit Report?
  • How Do Soft Inquiries Impact Credit Scores?
  • Should You Worry About Inquiries?

A soft inquiry, sometimes known as a soft credit check or soft credit pull, happens when you or someone you authorize (like a potential employer) checks your credit report. They can also happen when a company such as a credit card issuer or mortgage lender checks your credit to preapprove you for an offer.

Soft inquiries don't impact your credit scores because they aren't attached to a specific application for credit.

How Does a Soft Inquiry Work?

If you submit an application for new credit, such as a loan or credit card, the loan or card issuer will typically request a hard inquiry to check your credit. Hard inquiries will stay on your credit report for two years, but their impact on your credit scores is typically minimal and will only last a few months.

By contrast, a soft inquiry may occur if someone checks your credit report but you didn't submit a new application for credit. Soft inquiries aren't an indicator of greater risk and thus don't impact your credit scores.

For example, a soft inquiry occurs when:

  • You check your own credit
  • One of your current creditors checks your credit
  • You apply for a soft-pull preapproval with a creditor
  • A company checks your credit to see if you qualify for preapproval offers

Some applications can result in either a hard or soft inquiry, including opening a bank account and renting an apartment. In these situations, you could ask the company whether it will use a hard or soft pull to check your credit.

Can You See Soft Inquiries on Your Credit Report?

You can view the soft inquiries on your credit reports. If you want to get copies of your credit report, you can request one free copy from each major credit bureau (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) every 12 months on AnnualCreditReport.com. You can also check your Experian credit report monthly for free on Experian.com.

Keep in mind that your three reports could have different inquiries, as an inquiry is only added to the credit report that was checked. For example, if you check your Experian credit report, the soft inquiry won't be added to your Equifax or TransUnion credit reports.

How Do Soft Inquiries Impact Credit Scores?

Credit scoring models generate your credit score by analyzing the information in your credit report. Soft inquiries don't have any impact on your credit scores.

Hard inquiries may remain in your credit reports for about two years and they can impact your credit scores. But the impact is typically small, and credit scores tend to rebound within a few months if no new negative information gets added to your credit report. Scoring models usually only consider hard inquiries from the previous 12 months when calculating your scores.

Multiple recent hard inquiries can do more damage to your credit scores. However, credit scoring models often combine (or "deduplicate") multiple inquiries from a 14- to 45-day period—depending on the type of credit score—to avoid punishing consumers who are rate shopping.

Should You Worry About Inquiries?

In general, hard inquiries only play a minor role in your score and fear of a hard inquiry shouldn't keep you from applying for credit when you need to open a new account.

Soft inquiries are even less worrisome because you could have dozens, or even hundreds, of soft inquiries in your credit reports—and they still won't impact your credit scores.

How many points does a soft credit check drop your score?

There are two different types of credit inquiries: hard inquiries, which can have a negative effect on your credit score, and soft inquiries, which don't affect your score at all.

Does a soft credit pull affect credit?

Soft credit pulls won't affect your score at all, and hard credit inquiries will affect your credit score for 12 months. However, a hard credit inquiry has less of an impact on your credit score as it ages. “Hard credit pulls can affect your credit score, but it's a short-lived impact,” says Maliga.

Should I worry about a soft credit check?

As a result, soft credit checks are nothing to worry about because they won't keep you from building and maintaining good creditworthiness. In contrast, any inquiry that does directly impact your credit score is known as a hard inquiry.

How long does a soft inquiry affect your credit score?

Hard inquiries are taken off of your credit reports after two years. But your credit scores may only be affected for a year, and sometimes it might only be for a few months. Soft inquiries will only stay on your credit reports for 12-24 months. And remember: Soft inquiries won't affect your credit scores.