soft credit inquiry

[ sawft kred-it in-kwuh-ree, soft ]

noun

, Finance.

1. an informal review of creditworthiness, which does not affect a person's credit score, carried out by a potential lender or credit issuer, or by a potential borrower who requests a copy of their credit report:

   A preapproved credit card offering received in the mail normally entails a soft credit inquiry.

Word History and Origins

Origin of soft credit inquiry¹

First recorded in 2005–10

Example Sentences

It’s smoothly embedded in the shopping experience, offering almost immediate approval — sometimes not even requiring a so-called soft credit inquiry, which doesn’t affect your credit score in any case.

From New York Times

Moreover, the soft credit inquiry upfront is different from the black mark caused by late payment.

From Seattle Times

In addition to a hard credit inquiry, credit bureaus also offer banks and financial institutions the opportunity to complete a soft credit inquiry.

From Forbes

The bank will then complete a soft credit inquiry, which does not hurt your score.

From Forbes

Since credit card issuers typically perform a soft credit inquiry when evaluating a customer’s account for automatic credit limit increases, there is no negative effect to credit scores.

From US News