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If you check your credit score yourself, it doesn’t lower it. But if a lender or credit card issuer does, it might.
Either way, you’ll see an “inquiry” on your credit report. It means that someone — you or a lender — pulled your credit. (A credit report is your track record with credit. Your credit score is calculated from data in your credit reports.)
If you have applied for credit, you’re likely to see the lenders or card issuers listed on your report. You may also see collection agencies, lenders to whom you have not applied and records of when you checked your own credit.
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“Hard inquiries,” also called “hard pulls,” are the kind that can cost you points. They happen when someone pulls your credit for the purpose of deciding whether to extend credit (or additional credit) to you. These hard inquiries should not happen without your knowledge or consent.
You can review your hard inquiries on NerdWallet’s free credit report summary, which updates weekly. You can also check your free weekly credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com to see who has looked at it in the past two years.
A hard inquiry might cost you up to five points according to FICO, the creator of the most widely used scoring formulas. With VantageScore, an increasingly popular credit scoring model, a hard inquiry is likely to cost even more.
In contrast, a “soft inquiry” or “soft pull” occurs when you — or a creditor looking to preapprove you for a loan or credit card — check your score. A soft inquiry has no effect on your credit score.
So, if you apply for several credit cards close together, you might see a significant drop in your credit scores. Before you begin applying, take time to conduct research on the best credit cards for your specific financial needs, while keeping eligibility requirements in mind.
A hard inquiry stays on your credit report for two years, but any effect on your credit score fades sooner than that.
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Monitor your credit, track your spending and see all of your finances together in a single place.
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Why checking your credit is smart
Checking your credit scores regularly can alert you if something is amiss. A large, unexplained change in your score could be your first indication of potential identity theft or a mistake in your credit reports.
Before you apply for credit, it makes sense to have an idea of what the lender or credit card issuer will see when evaluating your application. Knowing your credit score can keep you from needlessly losing points by applying for products you won’t qualify for.
Also, knowing where you stand gives you the opportunity to polish your credit score before you apply for credit.
Frequently asked questions
Is checking my credit score free?
Many credit card issuers and personal finance websites offer credit scores that are truly free to consumers. However, if you want a certain version from a particular credit bureau, you may have to pay.
Why does your credit score go down when you check it?
Checking your own credit doesn't affect it. But your score could go down if someone else checks it. That would happen if you applied for a loan, credit card or perhaps an apartment.
How many points does your score go down for an inquiry?
FICO says for most people, it's about five points for a so-called "hard inquiry." VantageScore could drop up to 10 points, recoverable in about three months.
How to check your credit score without hurting it
Keep these items in mind when you check your credit score:
There are many kinds of credit scores, often with several versions. When you monitor your credit score, be sure to use the same credit score and the same version of it each time. Otherwise, you’re comparing apples and oranges. Credit scoring models measure mostly the same things, but they may weight them differently and may use different scales.
You don’t need to buy credit monitoring or identity theft protection to see your scores. You have several ways to get your score for free. They may come with a credit card or you can get a free credit score from NerdWallet, which updates weekly.
In an age where data breaches and identity theft are common, checking your score regularly is just good credit hygiene.
Good news: Credit scores aren't impacted by checking your own credit reports or credit scores. In fact, regularly checking your credit reports and credit scores is an important way to ensure your personal and account information is correct, and may help detect signs of potential identity theft.
No. Checking your credit score on NerdWallet only prompts a soft inquiry on your credit report - not a hard inquiry - and will never impact your score in any way, no matter how often you check it. This article includes more detail about this: Does Checking My Credit Score Lower It?
When you pull your credit score from credit bureau, it is counted as a soft enquiry and this does NOT lower your credit score. In fact, the more updated you are on your credit score, the higher are your chances of getting credit approved.
In general, credit inquiries have a small impact on your FICO Scores. For most people, one additional credit inquiry will take less than five points off their FICO Scores. For perspective, the full range for FICO Scores is 300-850. Inquiries can have a greater impact if you have few accounts or a short credit history.
Checking your free credit scores on Credit Karma doesn't hurt your credit. These credit score checks are known as soft inquiries, which don't affect your credit at all. Hard inquiries (also known as “hard pulls”) generally happen when a lender checks your credit while reviewing your application for a financial product.
You can check your credit score as often as you want without hurting your credit, and it's a good idea to do so regularly. At the very minimum, it's a good idea to check before applying for credit, whether it's a home loan, auto loan, credit card or something else.
Is NerdWallet accurate? The accuracy of the information displayed is entirely dependent on the accounts you link with NerdWallet. To see the most accurate information, connect all of your bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and your home value, where applicable.
When you check your own credit report or request your own credit score, or when a monitoring service you authorize does so, that request is noted on your credit report as a soft inquiry. A soft inquiry never has any impact on your credit scores.
We use industry-standard security controls, such as cryptography, to protect your personally identifying information. And our partners TransUnion and Plaid do the same.
Your checking account usually has no impact on your credit score. Normal day-to-day use of your checking account, such as making deposits, writing checks, withdrawing funds, or transferring money to other accounts, does not appear on your credit report. Your credit report only includes money you owe or have owed.
Using more of your credit card balance than usual — even if you pay on time — can reduce your score until a new, lower balance is reported the following month. Closed accounts and lower credit limits can also result in lower scores even if your payment behavior has not changed.
For a score with a range between 300 and 850, a credit score of 700 or above is generally considered good. A score of 800 or above on the same range is considered to be excellent. Most consumers have credit scores that fall between 600 and 750. In 2023, the average FICO® Score☉ in the U.S. reached 715.
A 750 credit score is considered excellent and above the average score in America. Your credit score helps lenders decide if you qualify for products like credit cards and loans, and your interest rate. A score of 750 puts you in a strong position.
Card issuers pull your credit report when you apply for a new credit card because they want to see how much of a risk you pose before lending you a line of credit. This credit check is called a hard inquiry, or "hard pull," and temporarily lowers your credit score a few points.
Reasons why your credit score could have dropped include a missing or late payment, a recent application for new credit, running up a large credit card balance or closing a credit card.
Credit scoring systems such as the FICO® Score☉ and VantageScore® use credit report data for their calculations but ignore soft inquiries, which means they have no effect on your credit scores.
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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