Credit Score

Do You Know the Difference Between Soft and Hard Inquiries?

By TrueCredit

Credit inquiries come in two flavors: soft and hard. Here’s how each kind affects you.

Inquiries, soft or hard, are authorized requests to see your credit report. But the similarities end there.

Soft

A soft credit inquiry is sort of a more routine credit check that can be done without your permission. Examples include when:

  • A lender you currently do business with requests your report to make sure you’re still creditworthy
  • You check your own credit report

The key takeaway for soft inquiries is that they won’t affect your credit score because they’re not applications for credit.

Hard

A hard inquiry happens when a potential lender requests your credit report to help evaluate whether to offer you credit. Examples include applying for a:

  • Mortgage
  • Car loan
  • Credit card

Why inquiries matter

Though soft inquiries will show up on your credit report, they will have no effect on your perceived creditworthiness. Hard inquiries, on the other hand, may be factored into credit scoring models. Though hard inquiries are generally seen to have a negative effect on credit scores, the impact of each inquiry isn’t usually too big. However, too many hard inquiries on your credit report may drag your credit score down, especially over the shorter run.

Here’s the good news on hard inquiries: they’ll fall off of your credit report after 2 years. Also, if you make a certain amount of hard inquiries within a short period of time when you’re loan shopping for a single purchase (like a mortgage), credit scoring models will generally consider all those hard inquiries to be one inquiry – they don’t want to penalize you for shopping around for the best deal.

Bottom line, don’t worry about soft but keep an eye on your hard inquiries.

About Vola:

Vola Finance can advance you up to $300 at NO INTEREST. Vola Finance can make sure your bank balance does not get too low and alert you before it does so that you don’t pay overdraft or NSF fees. Furthermore, Vola Finance breaks down your spending pattern to help you budget your upcoming expenses and find ways for you to save.

Vola supports over 6000 banks and credit unions and uses one of the nation’s largest bank connection providers to securely establish a link to your account.

Vola is transparent. There are NO HIDDEN FEES Vola operates by charging a subscription fee, there are no other charges. If the features offered by Vola are not compatible with your bank or phone, Vola Finance will refund you your subscription fee. 

VolaBest

Share
Published by
VolaBest

Recent Posts

Can You Become a Millionaire if You Save $15/Day? Step-by-Step Breakdown

This is not a blog telling you how to participate in 'Who Wants to Be…

2 days ago

Cambridge to Michigan: 5 Free Online Personal Finance Courses

If you find yourself a little lost every time people around you talk about financial…

1 month ago

How to Get Credit For Paying Monthly Utility Bills On Time

Did you know that the average credit score in the US hit an all-time high…

2 months ago

Working & Have Student Loans? 6 Benefits That Could Help You

Working hard and trying to tackle those student loans? Well, good news! Six new benefits…

3 months ago

A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Emergency Fund in the New Year

It has been a year full of financial lessons. People in America and worldwide are…

4 months ago

Top Financial Trends of 2024 & How to Ensure Your Financial Wellbeing

Artificial Intelligence may have been the biggest buzzword in the world, but for most Americans,…

5 months ago