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What exactly is a soft pull

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ecxpa
Valued Contributor

What exactly is a soft pull

Hear a lot about soft pulls and I thought the lender did a real time review of the credit report , but then I read that a soft pull is a review of the credit report that may have been done months ago.  Does anybody know how this is done.  I'm mainly interested in Amex and how they do sp on existing customers when they apply for a new product

Message 1 of 5
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flan
Regular Contributor

Re: What exactly is a soft pull


@ecxpa wrote:

Hear a lot about soft pulls and I thought the lender did a real time review of the credit report , but then I read that a soft pull is a review of the credit report that may have been done months ago.  Does anybody know how this is done.  I'm mainly interested in Amex and how they do sp on existing customers when they apply for a new product


A soft pull is one that's coded so that it doesn't show up to other people who pull your report.  It has all the same information that a hard pull has.  The most common use is for 'account review' -- an existing creditor wants to keep tabs on you, to make sure you have not done something that changes your risk exposure.  The creditor can have all sorts of reasons or triggers to do that.  They may do it on a schedule, they may make a statistical sample, they might look if you make unusual transaction, they may also get a notice that you've got a new account reporting.  New creditors tend to soft pull more often, and then relax.

 

When you ask someone like Amex, who give cli based on soft pulls, they typcially use the last account review pull on file, which may be from the same day, or it might be months old.  When you apply for a new account, I believe that Amex uses their on file account review for a first pass.  If you don't qualify based on that, you don't get a hard pull.  If you do, they pull a hard pull to show other creditors you're applying for new credit, and use the data in that report for the final decision. 

Message 2 of 5
randeman
Frequent Contributor

Re: What exactly is a soft pull

A soft inquiry, or soft pull, is a term used to refer to an inquiry into your credit history that does not adversely affect the credit score. Often, you are not even aware that there has been a soft inquiry on your credit report. For example, if you receive a solicitation in the mail offering you a credit card, the credit card company has most likely conducted a soft pull to see if you qualify. When mortgage lenders pre-approve you for a loan, they initially use a soft pull. Potential employers use it as a part of background checks, and your current credit card companies use soft inquiries to check up on you. Banks use them to verify that you are who you say you are when opening an account. If you check your own credit report, which you can do for free once a year, this is done with a soft pull. Most of the time, you do not even know when they occur, and they do not affect your credit report.

Experian Score: 689--Amex 27 July 2014; Equifax Score 680--MyFICO--17 September 2014; TransUnion Score 718-Discover 20 August 2014--PUH-RAISE JESUS, I finally broke 700!!! Cards and Credit Lines: Escape by Discover, Chase Freedom Signature Visa, Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Signature Visa, Chase Sapphire Preferred Signature Visa, Barclay's Holland America Visa, Citibank Custom Credit Line, Paypal Custom Connect Credit Line, Bloomingdale's, Macy's Premier Elite, Amazon Store Card, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Discover It, Gold Delta SkyMiles from American Express, PayPal BML.
Message 3 of 5
EW800
Valued Contributor

Re: What exactly is a soft pull

I understand from numerous threads that Barclay tends to SP like crazy, especially on newer accounts.  Would I be correct in assuming that this is completely done by computers?  I can't imagine they have human personnel doing SP's on all the new accounts, or do they?   Perhaps computers do it, but then flag for a human if it does not like what it sees?

 

 

Year 2012: All Scores in the 520 range, during a foreclosure, CC Settlement and high UTIL. Very ugly days...
April 2023: EX8: 840; EQ8: 832; TU8: 842 -- Middle Mortgage Score: 822
In My Wallet: Discover $73.7K; Cap1 Venture $48.7K; Amex ED $38K; Amex Optima $2.5K; Amex Delta Gold $18K; Citi Costco $22.5K; Cap1 Plat $8.4K; Barclay $7K; Chase Amazon $6K; BoA Plat $21.6K; Citi TY Pref $21K; US Bank $4K; Dell $5K; Care Credit $6.5K. Total Revolving CL: $296K
My UTIL: Less than 1% - Only allow about $10 a month to report, on one account. .
Message 4 of 5
user5387
Valued Contributor

Re: What exactly is a soft pull


@EW800 wrote:

I understand from numerous threads that Barclay tends to SP like crazy, especially on newer accounts.  Would I be correct in assuming that this is completely done by computers?  I can't imagine they have human personnel doing SP's on all the new accounts, or do they?   Perhaps computers do it, but then flag for a human if it does not like what it sees?

 

 


I would assume that it's all done by computers.

 

Message 5 of 5
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