A credit inquiry is when a lender, creditor, or other individual requests to view your credit report. There are two different types of credit inquiries: Hard and Soft. Hard inquiries can impact your credit score, while soft inquiries don't impact your credit score. Here’s a more detailed comparison:
- Hard credit inquiries are formal reviews of your credit report. Lenders take a deep dive into your credit history before approving your credit application. Hard inquiries can impact your credit score, so you should limit the number of hard inquiries that you authorize to avoid credit score drops.
- Soft credit inquiries are surface level credit score checks used to gauge your creditworthiness. These occur when you check your credit score with a platform such as Borrowell or when a lender checks your score to pre-approve you for special offers. Soft inquiries don’t impact your credit score.