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Lenders and creditors can check your credit reports and this credit inquiry may or may not be recorded on your credit reports. There are two types of credit inquiries - hard and soft.

A hard inquiry (or a hard pull) occurs when you apply for a credit card, loan, or mortgage and authorize a bank or lender to review your credit report and credit score as a part of their decision-making process. Since hard pulls are tied to an actual credit application, this type of inquiry appears on your credit reports and can affect your credit scores.

On the contrary, a soft inquiry (or a soft pull) occurs when you check your own credit history or when a lender or bank checks your credit to pre-approve you for an offer. Soft inquiries may not appear on credit reports and they never affect your credit scores.

Look through top soft pull credit cards from our partners and apply online. For example, you may pay attention to the card or the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card.

tags : Credit Cards Credit Score

Disclaimer: This editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer(s). Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer(s), and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer(s). Reasonable efforts are made to present accurate information, however all information is presented without warranty. Consult a card's issuing bank for the terms & conditions.
All rates and fees, and other terms and conditions of the products mentioned in this article/post are actual as of the last update date but are subject to change. See the current products' Terms & Conditions on the issuing banks' websites.