The short answer is that no, checking your own credit score does not lower it. Checking your credit score is treated as a soft credit inquiry that will not harm your credit rating. Periodically checking your credit bureau reports and/or score is a good practice for managing personal finances to gauge progress or detect potential errors or fraudulent activity.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), individuals may receive a complimentary credit report every 12 months from the three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These free credit reports do not typically include credit scores.

Credit card issuers today increasingly offer free credit score access to their customers. Other resources include Credit Karma’s free VantageScore plan and free FICO credit scores are available from Experian, American Express, Discover, and others.

What is a Soft Credit Check?

Soft credit inquiries or “soft pulls” occur when your credit file is accessed by a party other than a financier that is making a lending-related decision. A soft inquiry is distinct from a hard credit inquiry.

A hard inquiry may involve a lender pondering a student loan approval or a credit card company that received a new credit card application.

Parties conducting a soft credit inquiry are assessing your credit account history for reasons other than new credit or loan decisions.

Common examples include other non-lenders, such as a car insurance company preparing a quote, a prospective employer conducting a background check, identity theft monitoring services, or a consumer reviewing their own credit history.

Credit card companies often use a soft inquiry to assess suitability for new credit pre-approval campaigns promoting their best credit cards. Keep in mind that such pre-approved offers would still require a hard inquiry through one or more credit bureaus before formal approval.

What is a Hard Credit Check?

A hard inquiry or “hard pull” occurs when a potential lender accesses your credit history specifically for purposes like deciding whether to approve or deny a loan, determining appropriate interest rates, or determining maximum credit limits.

The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) created the industry’s top credit scoring model that uses a broad range of factors to calculate a FICO score. Although a hard credit inquiry remains on your credit report for two years, FICO scores only consider those from the past 12 months.

According to FICO, a single new hard credit inquiry usually takes less than five points off of FICO scores. VantageScore, the other popular model for calculating credit scores, describes the effect of hard inquiries as “minor or neutral”.

One common concern involves accruing multiple hard credit inquiries when “rate shopping” among several lenders. VantageScore states that related hard inquiries that occur within 14 days are consolidated into a single entry and FICO’s model responds similarly.

What Can Lower Your Credit Score?

Inquiries have a relatively limited impact on your overall credit report. FICO credit scores are based on factors that are grouped into five categories that are weighted as follows:

• Payment History: 35%
• Amounts Owed: 30%
• Length of Credit History: 15%
• New Credit: 10%
• Credit Mix: 10%

Payment History

The single most important factor that influences your score is your payment history, as your past track record of credit-related behavior is a leading indicator of future management of your personal finances.

Missing or late payments are very detrimental. Consumers seeking to establish good credit must focus on consistently making the required payments on all accounts on time.

Other very adverse entries on your credit report history include evictions, foreclosures, repossessions, bankruptcies, and others. Negative entries may remain on your credit history for between 7 to 10 years.

Amounts Owed

The overall amount of debt that you have is another important factor, as having too much debt can create challenges in satisfying all your financial obligations and make you susceptible to problems if unforeseen financial calamities arise.

Of even greater importance is your credit utilization ratio, which is expressed as a percentage that compares your current amount of debt relative to your maximum total limit across all revolving accounts (usually credit cards). The formula is as follows:

Credit Utilization Ratio (%) = total amount of debt (owed) / total credit limit (available credit)

A “good” utilization rate is typically considered to be 30% or below, with rates below 10% being exceptional.

Length of Credit History

Another key to achieving good credit is establishing a multi-year history of responsibly managing credit. Important factors include the age of your oldest active credit account and the average age across all your accounts.

This aspect of your credit profile is one reason why many experts discourage consumers from formally closing old credit card accounts, particularly when they are the oldest file on your credit report.

Keep in mind that having a lengthy credit history that contains some late payments or other adverse entries is unlikely to result in a better credit score than having a short, yet consistently, positive track record.

Credit Mix

Lenders prefer that consumers have a credit history that demonstrates responsibly managing two or more different types or categories of credit accounts. Equifax outlines the four primary types as follows:

• Installment loans: Accounts where borrowers usually make monthly payments over a fixed period, i.e., student loans or car loans. Once paid in full, the account is closed and viewed as inactive.
• Revolving debt: The two most common types are credit cards and home equity lines of credit. Here, borrowers must usually make at least a minimum monthly payment toward any balance.
• Mortgage accounts: Although it is a form of longer-term installment loan, home mortgages sometimes have variable interest rates that change according to market factors.
• Open accounts: These types require any current outstanding balance to be paid in full at the month-end. 

Applications for New Credit

When consumers formally apply for a loan, credit card, or another type of financing, the lender will conduct a hard credit check. Hard credit inquiries appear as a report entry and have a slightly adverse effect on your credit score.

Historically, lenders view opening several new credit accounts as an indicator of risk because it may suggest that a consumer has abruptly endured some financial problem. Consumers with a short credit history are generally more vulnerable to these types of concerns.

How Often Should You Check Your Credit Score?

The CFPB recommends that consumers check their credit reports at least one time each year. However, doing so more frequently will not adversely impact your credit because checking your personal credit data is a “soft” credit inquiry.

The benefits of reviewing your credit report include identifying any errors that may be hindering your credit score, detecting any potential indicators of identity theft or other fraud, and more.

Each of the major credit bureaus now has simple website tools for contesting omissions, errors, or other possible discrepancies.

How to Improve Your Credit Score

Consumers today are encouraged to take action to improve their credit. Having good credit allows you to qualify for preferred interest rates that can really add up when purchasing a home, car, etc.

Bad credit may also hinder your ability to lease an apartment, get a new job, and result in paying higher insurance premiums. For example, a study indicated that consumers with poor credit paid up to an average of 103% more for auto insurance.

Establishing a lengthy history of responsible credit use is a primary long-term plan for improvement; however, other specific ways of boosting your credit also exist.

Get a Credit Strong Credit Builder Loan

One effective option for improving your credit is obtaining a credit builder loan from Credit Strong, a division of a Texas-based community bank that is FDIC-insured and has a 5-star rating.

A credit builder loan is an installment loan that places the loan funds in a secured savings account. The borrower then begins making fixed monthly payments toward the balance, which are regularly reported to the three primary credit bureaus.

Over the loan term, many consumers experience a steady increase in their credit scores. After the loan is “repaid” in full, the original loan funds from the savings account are made available.

Check out the pricing and plans page for additional information regarding their credit building options.

Decrease Your Credit Utilization

One reason that consumers are often discouraged from “maxing” out credit card accounts is that doing so inflates their credit utilization ratio. A credit utilization rate is calculated by dividing the sum of all existing balances on revolving credit accounts by the total available credit limit.

Consider the following example: 

Utilization Rate Example

Current Accounts	Current Balance	Credit Limit	Ratio
Card A	200	1000	–
Card B	100	1000	–
Total	300	2000	300 / 2000 = 15%

A rate below 30% is typically seen as good and below 10% is considered excellent.

Keep in mind that closing old credit card accounts, even if you no longer use them, can have an adverse impact on your utilization rate by decreasing the maximum total available credit limit across all existing (active) accounts.

Contest Errors on Your Credit Report

Consumers are eligible for a free copy of their credit report from the three primary reporting bureaus each year. Taking advantage of this opportunity is a means of potentially uncovering erroneous entries on your credit report that might exist.

The importance of reviewing your credit report is among the most overlooked aspects of maintaining good credit. In fact, studies show that roughly 33% of consumers find some type of error when they check these reports.

Perhaps a delinquent credit account is listed on the report that is not yours? Similarly, you might have recently completed a car loan where you consistently made timely payments over 48 months that are not appearing on one or more bureau reports.

Diligently checking for and challenging the validity of credit report errors is free, simple, and potentially beneficial to your credit score. It might also alert you of attempts to fraudulently use your identity.

Avoid Hard Credit Inquiries

Each time you formally apply for a mortgage, car loan, credit card, or another source of financing, the lender will perform a credit check to assess your creditworthiness. Every such occurrence generates an entry showing that a hard credit inquiry (or hard pull) was made.

Hard credit inquiries usually have a temporary, yet adverse, impact on your credit score. Having multiple recent hard inquiries is often considered a “red flag” among lenders that suggests risk, such as a sign indicating unforeseen financial problems.

While hard credit entries remain on your credit report for two years, the FICO scoring model only considers hard credit pulls from the past 12 months in their calculations.

Consumers that are preparing to finance a large purchase are encouraged to “shop around” among lenders to secure better rates. 

When doing this, try to obtain all loan quotes over a period of several days, as the credit score formulas will automatically merge them into a single inquiry.

You should be aware of the common misconception that checking your personal credit report harms your credit score. Checking your credit is an important part of tracking progress and achieving credit-related goals as well as identifying errors or potentially fraudulent activity.

CreditStrong helps improve your credit and can positively impact the factors that determine 90% of your FICO score.

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