How many hard pulls for a credit card application?

Anonymous · ‎02-13-2015

Last May, I applied for the US Bank Cash+ card. I didn't get it, but was instead given Cash Rewards with 3k limit. TU reported 2 hard pulls the day I applied. This month I called US Bank asking about getting upgraded to Cash+. They said they don't do upgrades, but I could go to a branch and apply for a new Cash+. I did and was approved for Cash+ with 14k limit (I wasn't expecting a jump nearly that large). But again, TU reported 2 separate hard pulls the day I applied.

Is that standard for US Bank to do 2 hard pulls for each application? Is it likely to hurt my credit score much having double pulls for them, and if so, would it be worth asking them to take 1 pull off from each application?

Thanks!

Anonymous · ‎02-13-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Last May, I applied for the US Bank Cash+ card. I didn't get it, but was instead given Cash Rewards with 3k limit. TU reported 2 hard pulls the day I applied. This month I called US Bank asking about getting upgraded to Cash+. They said they don't do upgrades, but I could go to a branch and apply for a new Cash+. I did and was approved for Cash+ with 14k limit (I wasn't expecting a jump nearly that large). But again, TU reported 2 separate hard pulls the day I applied.

Is that standard for US Bank to do 2 hard pulls for each application? Is it likely to hurt my credit score much having double pulls for them, and if so, would it be worth asking them to take 1 pull off from each application?

Thanks!

They should not be doing two HPs for the same application. I'd call them and find out what's going on but make sure there are actually two pulls first

ojefferyo · ‎02-13-2015

should be 1 for each application

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Anonymous · ‎02-18-2015

I got an answer from US Bank. Sometimes if the system doesn't immediately get a full credit report from 1 agency (TU in my case), they'll send a 2nd request to the same agency and a different agency to confirm that the data is consistent. Even though I had 2 hard pulls for TU on the same day, since they're within a week of each other, they'll only count as 1 inquiry when it comes to determining my score.

The agent also said that if you have a US Bank card for > 1 year, they switch to soft pulls for new applications / CLI requests. Though that seems to contradict what I've heard about US Bank always using hard pulls.

Anonymous · ‎02-18-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
I got an answer from US Bank. Sometimes if the system doesn't immediately get a full credit report from 1 agency (TU in my case), they'll send a 2nd request to the same agency and a different agency to confirm that the data is consistent. Even though I had 2 hard pulls for TU on the same day, since they're within a week of each other, they'll only count as 1 inquiry when it comes to determining my score.

The agent also said that if you have a US Bank card for > 1 year, they switch to soft pulls for new applications / CLI requests. Though that seems to contradict what I've heard about US Bank always using hard pulls.

I'm sorry but that is a pathetic and bs excuse for pulling a 2nd report. And they're being disingenuous about the effect of the second pull. It still counts as a 2nd inquiry and can very well damage your ability for future credit if you show having too many inquiries. Also two inquiries for credit card applications do potentially affect your score and count as two, period. Only inquiries for auto and mortgage financing will be combined for scoring purposes (even those count as separate inquiries). I'd be all over them to get the 2nd inquiry removed and never deal with them again.

B335is · ‎02-18-2015

OP, where are you getting 2 hard pulls? If you're using CreditKarma or something similar, don't. Go to TU directly and see how many pulls they are showing. These third party entertainment credit sites are notorious for reporting one hard pull more than once.

Anonymous · ‎02-18-2015

@B335is wrote:
OP, where are you getting 2 hard pulls? If you're using CreditKarma or something similar, don't. Go to TU directly and see how many pulls they are showing. These third party entertainment credit sites are notorious for reporting one hard pull more than once.

Good point. I had assumed that the OP was getting the two pulls notification from a TU report and not CK

Anonymous · ‎02-18-2015

Last May I got the double pull straight from my TU credit report. At the time, I assumed it was because they pulled when I applied for Cash+. Then when I was denied for Cash+, they pulled again to consider me for Cash Rewards. That doesn't make a huge amount of sense to me but it was the best I could come up with.

This month I got the double pull notification from Credit Karma, but since it happened before I didn't question Credit Karma's accuracy. When I called US Bank, they confirmed that they saw a double pull on their end for both applications, but were equally adamant it wouldn't affect my score. I didn't push them on it since I'm not knowledgable enough about credit reports and inquiries. Though it doesn't make sense why they would pull TU, then pull it again because it wasn't complete.

I forgot to add that this is a joint credit card with my husband (we're joint owners, not him being an authorized user). Though I don't see why this would affect him getting single-pulled and me getting double-pulled.

If people here are confident enough that US Bank screwed up, and it's serious, I'll go back to US Bank and more forcefully ask them to fix it.

Anonymous · ‎02-18-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Last May I got the double pull straight from my TU credit report. At the time, I assumed it was because they pulled when I applied for Cash+. Then when I was denied for Cash+, they pulled again to consider me for Cash Rewards. That doesn't make a huge amount of sense to me but it was the best I could come up with.

This month I got the double pull notification from Credit Karma, but since it happened before I didn't question Credit Karma's accuracy. When I called US Bank, they confirmed that they saw a double pull on their end for both applications, but were equally adamant it wouldn't affect my score. I didn't push them on it since I'm not knowledgable enough about credit reports and inquiries. Though it doesn't make sense why they would pull TU, then pull it again because it wasn't complete.

I forgot to add that this is a joint credit card with my husband (we're joint owners, not him being an authorized user). Though I don't see why this would affect him getting single-pulled and me getting double-pulled.

If people here are confident enough that US Bank screwed up, and it's serious, I'll go back to US Bank and more forcefully ask them to fix it.

All I can say is that their excuse for pulling twice is a joke. Let's assume that their system didn't pick up your full report on the first try. First, I've never heard of such a thing and if it did happen then it's a problem on their end and you shouldn't suffer because of it. Second, they gave you incorrect information about the impact of a second inquiry in an attempt to downplay their mistake. They pretty much lied to you or the person you talked was very uniformed on the realities of FICO scoring and the impact of more inquiries on your file.