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| Soft Pull vs. Hard Pull |
| Written by Dongmiao Cui | ||||||||||||
 When your credit score is reviewed, a record of inquiry will show up on your credit report. There are two types of credit inquiries: the hard credit inquiry, known as the “hard pull”, and the soft credit inquiry, known as the “soft pull.” “Soft Pull” includes all involuntary credit inquires NOT to be viewed by your prospective lenders to whom you apply for new credit. “Soft Pulls” do NOT affect your credit score. Common examples of “Soft Pulls” are when you check your own credit score and when businesses review your credit scores before they offer you services. In particular, if a credit card company proposes to give your promotional offers, they may order a “Soft Pull”, not a “Hard Pull”. “Hard Pull” refers to a credit inquiry conducted by your lenders when you apply to for new credit such as a loan or a credit card. “Hard Pull” will lower your FICO score by less than 5 points. It is crucial to avoid unnecessary hard pulls: getting a credit card just for a 5 percent discount on your Louis Vuitton handbag may not be worth the harm it does to your credit score. Sometimes when you have to “shop around” for lower interest rates at several banks, you can apply a few techniques to bundle the hard pulls during the rate shopping. Be careful that some financial institutions like banks, sometimes also conduct a hard pull even when you are not applying for loans or credit cards. So before you get services from your banks, you want to check with them on which type of credit inquiries they will request. Recognize Credit Inquiries Different credit bureaus use various terminologies to refer to a “Hard Pull”. The table below demonstrates how the inquiries are described by the three major credit bureaus.
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