Does Checking My Credit Score Lower It? - NerdWallet (2024)

FAQs

Does Checking My Credit Score Lower It? - NerdWallet? ›

Checking your own credit won't hurt your score. It's safe and smart to check it often.

Checking your credit reports or credit scores will not impact credit scores. Regularly checking your credit reports and credit scores is a good way to ensure information is accurate. Hard inquiries in response to a credit application do impact credit scores.

Rest easy knowing your data is protected with encryption, multi-factor authentication and other security features. And we use a "soft inquiry" so checking your score won't hurt it. Where does NerdWallet get my score?

Checking your own credit score is considered a soft inquiry and won't affect your credit scores. There are other types of soft inquiries that also don't affect your credit scores, and several types of hard inquiries that might.

CreditWise provides your VantageScore® 3.0 credit score and monitors credit reports from TransUnion® and Experian®, two of the three major credit bureaus. CreditWise is free for everyone—whether you have a Capital One card or not. And using it won't hurt your credit scores.

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.

NerdWallet currently offers the VantageScore from TransUnion, but you might have seen your FICO score somewhere else. They both use roughly the same information, but the scoring models are different – which means the scores could be, too.

NerdWallet is a totally free and eclectic personal finance app that's good at many things. For one, it has excellent information about your credit score. It also lets you import financial transactions from your banks and credit cards so you can track your income and spending in one place—and your net worth.

Consider whether your primary concern is tracking your finances or managing your credit score. Credit Karma is likely the best option for you if your primary concern is managing or improving your credit score. If your primary concern is budgeting and finance tracking, NerdWallet is likely the better choice.

Does searching your credit score lower it? ›

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.

As someone with a 650 credit score, you are firmly in the “fair” territory of credit. You can usually qualify for financial products like a mortgage or car loan, but you will likely pay higher interest rates than someone with a better credit score. The "good" credit range starts at 690.

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.

Conclusion. Checking your CIBIL score regularly does not reduce your credit points. You must check your credit score before seeking new credit as it will help you grow your credit score over time. Ensure you have the optimum score for the credit approval and avoid having your application rejected by creditors.

In many cases, a hard credit inquiry will only drop your score by about five points — and soft credit inquiries won't affect your score at all.

Learn more about your credit score

A 750 credit score is Very Good, but it can be even better. If you can elevate your score into the Exceptional range (800-850), you could become eligible for the very best lending terms, including the lowest interest rates and fees, and the most enticing credit-card rewards programs.

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.

Does checking my FICO^® Score lower it? No. The FICO^® Score and other credit information we provide will never hurt your credit score. In fact, you can check as often as you like – it will never affect your score.

Checking your credit history and credit scores can help you better understand your current credit position. Regularly checking your credit reports can help you be more aware of what lenders may see. Checking your credit reports can also help you detect any inaccurate or incomplete information.

Your payment history on loan and credit accounts can play a prominent role in calculating credit scores. Even one late payment on a credit card account or loan can result in a credit score decrease, depending on the scoring model used. In addition, late payments remain on your Equifax credit report for seven years.