Soft Credit Inquiry

Unlike hard inquiries, soft inquiries will not affect your credit score. Soft credit inquiries. A credit application does not trigger a soft inquiry. Examples of soft credit inquiries include:

• A consumer checks their own credit report
• One of the consumer’s creditors checks their report
• An insurer pulls at the credit for a quote.
• A company views a consumer’s credit report for a background check.
• A consumer applies for pre-approval for a loan or credit card or applies to pre-qualify for credit offers.

Another advantage of a soft inquiry is that only the account holder and the credit bureau can see it and the inquiry will never be shown to other companies looking at the report.