Why do credit card companies soft you?

[Anonymous]

Why do credit card companies soft you? I saw two softs on my report. I was confused because one inquiry was two months after I opened my card?

[Hairy_Satchel]

They are checking up on you. Probably hoping you'll get a new baddie so they can raise your rates to the default APR.

[Anonymous]

I thought per the new credit card act that this was not allowed, checking for new baddies to raise the rate?

[Watchmann]

Your credit worthiness is dynamic and changes day to day, the grantor has every right to know what your credit situation is.  If you go out and buy a $100k automobile that will affect how they view your credit worthiness.  The new law doesn't prevent them from looking at your credit profile, it only restricts them how they can react and change your account.

Contrary to popular belief, they aren't looking for baddies to change your account, they are looking for situations they may make them rethink keeping you as a customer.  Nothing wrong with that.

[Wolf3]

They may be looking to offer you something.   

American Express does a soft inquiry on me every month.    I suspect I will be getting offers in about 5 years.

[gymbo731]

When they do a soft pull, do they see the exact same thing as a hard pull or is it different?

[haulingthescoreup]

A soft pull from an existing creditor sees the full credit report.

A soft pull under the PRM/ promo prefix from a potential creditor only gets your name and address and a very general picture of your credit. For instance, no BK's, no lates within 2 years, etc. These are the ones that can result in so-called pre-approvals and other fun offers. They don't see the full report.

I've gotten softed by all my lenders, and I've gotten lots of CLI's as a result.

Especially with a new borrower, they want to see that you haven't gone bat-wild with credit, running up lots of debt with other lenders and looking like a potential defaulter.

[Anonymous]

Citi softs me every month on EX.  I have gotten quite a few

offers from them. 

EX  774

EQ  802

[MarineVietVet]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

A soft pull from an existing creditor sees the full credit report.

A soft pull under the PRM/ promo prefix from a potential creditor only gets your name and address and a very general picture of your credit. For instance, no BK's, no lates within 2 years, etc. These are the ones that can result in so-called pre-approvals and other fun offers. They don't see the full report.

I've gotten softed by all my lenders, and I've gotten lots of CLI's as a result.

Especially with a new borrower, they want to see that you haven't gone bat-wild with credit, running up lots of debt with other lenders and looking like a potential defaulter.

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Let me ask you this. I know that opting out will stop (or it's supposed to) all those pre-approval offers for credit and insurance. Does opting out also stop those soft pulls under the PRM prefix or can they still soft you but just can't send any offers?

From a BK years ago to:
9/09 EX pulled by lender 802
3/10 EQ- 800
4/10 TU -772

You can do the same thing with hard work

Credit Scoring 101
Common Abbreviations
Frequently Requested Threads
Whats In Your FICO Score

[Watchmann]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

Let me ask you this. I know that opting out will stop (or it's supposed to) all those pre-approval offers for credit and insurance. Does opting out also stop those soft pulls under the PRM prefix or can they still soft you but just can't send any offers?

From a BK years ago to:
9/09 EX pulled by lender 802
3/10 EQ- 800
4/10 TU -772

You can do the same thing with hard work

Credit Scoring 101
Common Abbreviations
Frequently Requested Threads
Whats In Your FICO Score

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I've been opted out since it first became available and I just checked a recent credit report and the only softs are with those companies I have accounts or business with (CC cos, insurance cos, etc).  Since each soft costs something I don't think a grantor would want to pay for something and not be able to act on the information.