topic BofA hard or soft pull for checking account? in Personal Finance

BofA hard or soft pull for checking account?

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 04:57:00 GMT

Hello,

I am interested in opening a checking account with Bank of America, but I am concerned about the credit check portion of the process. I would rather not have a hard pull hit my report, but I have read conflicting statements on whether Bank of America performs hard or soft pulls for opening a checking account. Most of these threads were from ~10 years ago, so maybe things have become more consistent?

Thank you for any input!

Re: BofA hard or soft pull for checking account?

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 06:16:05 GMT

It's SP as long as you opt out of overdraft protection.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-of-america-150-checking-bonus-25-per-referral/

Re: BofA hard or soft pull for checking account?

DaveInAZ — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 15:35:41 GMT

Yep, soft pull if opt out of OD protection (it's a credit product), but be aware that BoA reports to EWS (Early Warning System) and in addition to reporting all your personal info including email & phone number they report your statement balance.

Re: BofA hard or soft pull for checking account?

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 00:11:47 GMT

Ok, sounds good, thank you.

I wasn't able to find an opt out for overdraft protection (it seems like it may be opt-in now), but I did get an answer from BofA. I was told that they only use chexsystems for checking accounts, which I interpret as them only conducting a soft pull at most.

Anyway, I opened the account, so if I see an inquiry pop up I'll report back to let everyone know for future reference.