Consequences of pre-qualification checks?

[thecheese]

I'm in the midst of cleaning a few things up on my credit in prep for an app spree (mostly just waiting for a balance payoff or two to report at this point). I know there are some links to card pre-qualification forms for various banks/cards that don't result in an HP. Is there a downside to using these just to get a peek at what I may or may not currently qualify for? If I end up only pre-qualifying for some stuff I'm not even remotely interested in will that have some affect on a "real" app not too long from now as far as something they might reference? Obviously not in terms of inqueries but in terms of them seeing "he recently pre-qualified for X dinky card, now he's applying for Y awesome card. No way". I've waited this long to app, I can wait until it's all squared away. I was just curious.

[enharu]

nope no downside at all. some lenders, such as citi, may also send in physical copies of those pre-approvals if you are pre-approved, so you might get quite a bit of spam mail. that's bout it. there's no negative effect at all whatsoever other than that.

[djc1puno]

as far as i'm concerned, knock yourself out i don't think places such as cardmatch or various bank prequalification sites would do any harm in your future apps

[longtimelurker]

Right, if you use a bank pre-qual site, that issuer knows you applied (hence the spam people get, especially from Citi) but there is nothing on your credit report that anyone else can see.  So the scenario of "ultra-prime" lender turning you down because you pre-qual'd with a lower-level issuer can't happen.

[Revelate]

Checking occasionally isn't likely a problem; as some have used it as a app addiction substitute and literally pushing it once a day sometimes, think that gives a lender the wrong impression frankly.

Anything you do online there's a record somewhere, and when it comes to interacting with any financial institution one has to assume they will use that record somehow.  Infinite time and space and all... some lender has already done it.

[longtimelurker]

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@Revelate wrote:

Checking occasionally isn't likely a problem; as some have used it as a app addiction substitute and literally pushing it once a day sometimes, think that gives a lender the wrong impression frankly.

Anything you do online there's a record somewhere, and when it comes to interacting with any financial institution one has to assume they will use that record somehow.  Infinite time and space and all... some lender has already done it.

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Maybe, or maybe not.   From the spamming that happens, it seems at least in some cases it's marketing that is notified when you prequal, and they are happy for any interest in their product.   So, in the absence of evidence that it one day counts against you, I would not consider this a real issue.

[brother7]

I see that Chase has a pre-qual area. I've always wondered if I pre-qualify for a CSP. #tempting

[thecheese]

Thanks for the responses! I ended up checking a few pre-approvals and Chase was the only one that could give me an answer. Capital One and Discover both said they couldn't find any records for me. Of those 3 I already have an account with Chase so I'm guessing that's why.

[Startome]

Hey check my recent post about Capital one, it may interest you. In summary (it's a short post anyway lol) by doing a pre-qual you can get an offer where they would normally deny you.