Inquiries for pre-approved offers do not affect your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit score unless you follow throuไgh and apply for the credit card or loan, and possibly not𒊎 even then. Here is what you need to know.

How Pre-Approved Offers Work

If you read the fine print on a pre-approved credit offer, you'll find it's not really "pre-approved" as most of us would understand the term. Anyone who receives an offer must still fill out an application before being granted credit. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Pre-approval simply means that the lender has identified you as a good prospect based on information in your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit report. The lender will want more information, such as your income, which is not included in🥀 cre♊dit reports.

Pre-approved offers are sometimes referred to more accurately as "prescreened."

The Two Types of Credit Inquiries

When a lender requests your credit report from a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit bureau, that is known as an inquiry.

There are two types of credit inquiries, referred to in the lending business as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:soft inquiries and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:hard inquiries. Only a hard inquiry is🥃 an indication that a lender is actively considering extending credit to you or has just done so, based on your requℱest. Soft inquiries are also known as soft credit checks or soft pulls, hard inquiries as hard credit checks or hard pulls.

Soft Inquiries

When lenders request consumers' credit reports for review before sending them pre-approved offers, that's counted as a soft inquiry. Other soft inquiries occur when a person's current lender pulls a credit report for an account review, when a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:debt collector checks a credit report for recent activity, or if🥀 an employer checks it when you apply🎉 for a job.

When you request your own credit report, that also counts as a soft inquiry.

Only you can see soft inquiries on your credit report. Other lenders cannot see them.

If you fill out an application that accomp🐼anies a pre-approved offer, the lender w💫ill sometimes use the soft inquiry that has already been pulled to make its decision, or it may request a new credit report, resulting in a hard inquiry.

Hard Inquiries

A hard♏ inquiry occurs when someone applies for a credit card or loan, such as a mortgage. It is an indication that the person is considering taking on additional debt and has taken a step toward doing so. Potential lenders can see hard inquiries on your credit report.

Hard inquiries can affect your credit score, but usually only if there are a number of them. In any case, the impact of a hard inquiry on your score is very low compared with other factors such as your bill payment history and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit utilization ratio.

Hard inquiries on your credit report might be a concern if, say, you're about to submit a mortgage application and have recently applied for a bunch of credit cards. The lender might question whether you are about to take on substantial additional debt or whether you're in some sort of financial difficulty. Lenders will sometimes deny a credit application because an applicant has too many recent inquiries.

Multiple hard inquiries for a mortgage or car loan in a limited time frame can be an exception, however. They are lumped together as one inquiry because lenders understand that the person was probably just shopping around for a single loan.

Lenders may also deny a credit application if a person's income appears inadequate to cover all of their monthly debt payments. After the applicant provides their income information, lenders will often do a calculation called a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. A DTI ratio compares the person's monthly debt payments to their gross monthly income. While lenders can differ in what they consider an acceptable DTI, they generally like to see a ratio of 36% or less.

Hard inquiries automatically fall off a credit report after two years and cease to have any effect on credit scores after one year.

How to Opt Out of Pre-Approved Offers

If you prefer not to receive pre-approved credit card offers, federal law allows you to opt out for five years at a time. To do that, you can either visit or call 888-5-OPT-OUT (888-567-8688). You can also opt out of pre-approved insurance offers.

It's also possible to opt out permanently, starting at the website above. After you make your request online, you need to fill out, sign, and return a permanent opt-out election form.

The Bottom Line

Before lenders will offer you a pre-approved credit card or loan, they'll request your credit report from a credit bureau. That is a soft credit inquiry, and it won't have any impact on your credit score. If you go ahead and apply based on the offer, however, that may affect your score, but only in a small way.