What is a soft inquiry and does it affect your credit score?

• A. A soft inquiry is the credit check used to approve loans.
• B. A soft inquiry is a public record.
• C. A soft inquiry is a credit check not used for lending decisions; it does not affect your score.
• D. A soft inquiry is a hard inquiry.

Answer: (C)

Soft inquiries are checks of your credit that happen when you’re not actively applying for new credit—things like pre-approval checks, account review by lenders, or when you’re checking your own report. They’re not used to make lending decisions, and they do not affect your credit score. You might see them on your credit report, but scoring models don’t factor them in.

In contrast, hard inquiries occur when you actually apply for credit and a lender pulls your report to decide whether to approve you; these can cause a small, temporary drop in your score, especially if several are made in a short period.