Do credit card pre-approvals hurt your credit score?

Getting pre-approved for a credit card typically won’t hurt your credit scores. And receiving a pre-screened offer or checking for pre-approval can be a great way to understand your credit card options. 

Find out how the terms “pre-approval,” “pre-qualify” and “pre-screen” are used. Plus, learn how card issuers can check your eligibility without hurting your credit scores.

What you’ll learn:

• Pre-approval can help give you an idea of what cards you’re more likely to be approved for. 

• You might receive an offer from a credit card issuer if your financial profile and credit history meet basic cardholder eligibility requirements. Or you could check whether you’re pre-approved on your own, often through an online experience.

• Credit card pre-approval shouldn’t affect your credit scores if the process involves a soft credit inquiry.

• Applying for a credit card that you’re pre-approved for could require a hard credit inquiry, which could cause credit scores to drop temporarily.

Credit card pre-approvals let you check credit card offers from card issuers. You may see an option to get pre-approved when you’re looking at cards online. Or you may have received a pre-approved offer by mail. Either way, credit card pre-approval typically won’t harm your credit scores.

If you’re trying to figure out what it all means, it’s important to remember a couple of things.

• Credit card issuers might use terms such as “pre-approval,” “pre-qualification” and “pre-screening” to refer to the process of letting people check for potential credit card offers. 

• Whether you checked yourself, were invited to check or received an offer, it usually means your credit history and reports have been reviewed and you meet basic cardholder requirements. 

You can see if you’re pre-approved for Capital One credit cards by providing some basic information. If you’re pre-approved, all you need to do is review the terms and accept the offer that’s right for you. 

Credit card pre-approval typically doesn’t affect your credit scores because it involves a soft credit inquiry. Also known as a soft pull or soft credit check, a soft inquiry doesn’t impact your credit scores. It’s simply a way for issuers to determine whether you may qualify for their credit card offer.

If you apply for a credit card you’ve been pre-approved for, that could trigger a hard inquiry. Hard inquiries can remain on credit reports for two years. But they may not affect credit scores for that long. For example, FICO® credit scores only consider hard inquiries from the past 12 months. 

Even if the effect on your credit scores is temporary, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recommends only applying for the credit you need. Applying for several credit cards in a short period could hurt your scores and look bad to lenders.

Here are a few key advantages of checking for pre-approved credit card offers:

• Focus your credit card search: There are a lot of credit cards out there. Checking for pre-approved offers can help you narrow your search to cards you’re more likely to be approved for. That way, you won’t waste any time researching options that may not be right for you.

• No harm to your credit scores: If pre-approval involves a soft inquiry, it won’t hurt your credit scores. And getting pre-approved could help you avoid unnecessary hard inquiries, which can cause your scores to drop temporarily. 

• Compare card terms: Once you know which cards you’re more likely to be approved for, you can look more closely at each option’s interest rates, fees and benefits to find the best fit. Keep in mind that you may have a limited amount of time to accept a pre-approval offer.

Boosting your credit scores can help you attract better credit card offers. Here are some habits that could help you increase your credit scores and pre-approval odds over time:

• Use credit responsibly. Responsible credit use includes making on-time payments, staying within your credit limits and not opening too many accounts at once.

• Stay under your credit limit. The CFPB recommends keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30%. This ratio is the amount of credit you’re using across all your revolving credit accounts compared to your total available credit.

• Dispute errors on your credit reports. You don’t want inaccurate information harming your credit. If you find errors on your credit reports, dispute them with the credit bureau. 

Monitoring your credit can help you understand what affects your credit score. CreditWise from Capital One is one way to monitor your credit report and credit score. CreditWise is free and available to everyone, even if you don’t have a Capital One card. And using CreditWise won’t hurt your credit score.

You can also get free copies of your credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com.

If you’d rather not receive pre-approval offers, you can opt out for five years or permanently at optoutprescreen.com or by calling 888-5-OPT-OUT (888-567-8688).

Pre-approval typically won’t hurt your credit scores because it involves a soft inquiry. And checking for pre-approved offers may help you narrow your credit card search and avoid unnecessary hard inquiries. If you’re ready to look for your next credit card, Capital One can help.

• See if you’re pre-approved for credit cards without harming your credit scores. 

• If you’re looking to build your credit with responsible use, explore cards for people with fair credit. 

• Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day, with a cash back rewards card. 

• Monitor your credit report and score with CreditWise. It’s free for everyone, and using it won’t hurt your credit.