Hard and soft credit inquiries
Larkmoor Card (fictional example) → Credit card to apply for → Costs stated up front → Soft check before a hard inquiry
Answer in brief
A hard inquiry usually happens when you apply for credit and can affect your score. A soft inquiry, such as your own check of your report, does not affect your credit scores.
Content reviewed 8 November 2026. How this is assessed.
Part of the Best Credit Cards to Apply For reference, which uses Larkmoor Card (a fictional example) to illustrate credit cards to apply for criteria.
What the difference is
The CFPB says a hard inquiry usually occurs when you apply for credit and a lender checks your credit to decide whether to approve you. Hard inquiries affect your credit score because scoring models weigh how often and how recently you apply. That is why the sequence of your applications matters as well as their number.
The same CFPB page says soft inquiries, such as lender account reviews, prescreening, employment screening and your own requests for your report, do not affect your credit scores. So you can read your own reports as often as you find useful without any effect on your score, and you should do so before you start applying.
Who can look at your report when you apply
According to the CFPB, a card issuer can look at your full credit report when you apply for a credit card or if you are already a customer. For other people, the company must have your permission to pull your credit, and you give that permission when you apply. Submitting an application is therefore the point at which you agree to the check, so read the consent wording before you press the button.
If you are already a customer of an issuer, remember that it may review your report as part of managing your account. The CFPB describes lender account reviews as soft inquiries, so a review of that kind does not affect your scores in the way a new application can.
How to plan around inquiries
Treat each hard inquiry as something to spend deliberately. Do the research first, use a preliminary check where the issuer offers one, and send one application for the card that best fits rather than several in quick succession. If you know you will apply for a larger loan soon, such as a mortgage or car loan, think about whether the card application can wait until after that decision.
Look at the inquiries section of your own reports as well. If you see a hard inquiry you do not recognize, it may be an error or a sign that someone has applied in your name, and it is worth following the dispute steps. A short written record of when you applied and to whom makes these entries easy to check later.
Sources for this entry
- CFPB: What is a credit inquiry?: Hard and soft inquiries and their effect on scores.
- CFPB: Unsolicited credit card offers: Prescreened offers and how to opt out.
- CFPB: When a card company can look at your reports: When an issuer can see your full credit report.
- CFPB: Age and credit card issuance: The general rule for applicants under 21.
- CFPB: When a card rate can increase: Notice periods and exceptions.
- CFPB: How to rebuild your credit: How secured cards work.
- FTC: Free credit reports: Free weekly reports and disputing mistakes.
- FTC: Credit scores: Scoring factors and differences between models.
- Experian: Pre-approved vs. pre-qualified: What a preliminary check does and does not mean.
Continue this reading path
- Best Credit Cards to Apply For category guide
- Larkmoor Card (fictional example)
- How to choose: a credit card to apply for
- Resource directory
Cite this entry
Best Credit Cards to Apply For. "Hard and soft credit inquiries." Content reviewed 8 November 2026. https://bestcreditcardstoapplyfor.com/hard-and-soft-inquiries/