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Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?

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Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?

Last Friday I broke my New Year's resolution and applied for a Capital One card.  I need a card with low/no foreign transaction fees, and this is the one that I ultimately chose.

 

Not surprisingly, Cap One did hard pulls from all 3 bureaus.  However, on the same day, Amex, Citi, and Chase all did soft pulls on EX for account review purposes.  I know that they do these occasionally, but for them to all occur on the same day, and on the day that I make my first CC application in over 2 years, is eeriely suspicious.

 

Has anyone else noticed this happening?  Now I'm just waiting to get ratejacked or CLD'ed.

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?

Wow, that would creep me out too!

I wonder if AmEx, Chase, and Citi pay for notifications when one of their customers applies for something? I wish I knew more about the options that current creditors have for softing.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 2 of 8
marty56
Super Contributor

Re: Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?

Paypal doesn't charge a border fee (I think it didn't) and I wonder about their CC or debit card.
1/25/2021: FICO 850 EQ 848 TU 847 EX
Message 3 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?

I'm not surprised by this, with technology being as advanced as it is and with the credit bureaus offering so many different products to those who purchase their services. They probably have a system set up when a person applies for new credit all others are notified via AR process. I saw a similar post when an individual went on an app spree and had all his cards CLD or Canceled after that app spree....What triggered it .....you guessed it AR soft pulls and his accounts were canceled.

 

I would look for more of this to happen in the future.  Don't like it..but I believe a reality going forward.

Message 4 of 8
pizzadude
Credit Mentor

Re: Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?

Wow.   Nice to know that big brother is watching over your shoulder.  Smiley Indifferent

 

As others have pointed out I suspect that the CRAs sell this as a service for a nice fee - "Hey CC Issuers - Worried about your cardholders ?  We'll let you know when they app for other cards - in case you need to keep them on a short leash...."

 

Or my personal favorite - "Hey Collection Agencies - want to know when someone is about to purchase a home/car ?  We'll let you know so that you can pounce on them as soon as that Mortgage App Hard Inquiry shows".

 

All the more reason to opt out with the CRAs.   Not 100% but I'm guessing that would stop some of these things from happening....

 

March2010 FICO® ~ 695 TU, 653 EQ, 697 EX
Message 5 of 8
Watchmann
Valued Contributor

Re: Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?

Always keep one thing in mind, the credit agencies do not exist for you, they exist for credit providers.  The market for the public is just a sideline for them to bring in some extra money to show you a minimal amount of data.  They sell all kinds of custom designed products and if AMEX wants to be notified of all people living in Illinois whose last names begin with 'C' with FICO scores in the 650-750 range who apply for credit with card XYZ that can easily be provided.  I'm not surprised at all.  We live in a fishbowl and all of our financial lives are for sale.  That's the price we pay for automated credit systems.  
Message 6 of 8
Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?

I know that EX - and probably the other CRAs - offers a credit alerting service to businesses to let them know when a person applies for new credit.  I naively thought that this would apply to just big credit applications, like mortgages and auto loans.  It appears that I'm wrong.  Interestingly, an auto loan application from last year didn't seem to generate any softs from these companies.

 

I have about $30,000 of CL on two Chase cards that is under-utilized (to the CCC, that is Smiley Tongue).  I wonder if that's going to get chopped.

 

The irritating thing is that I didn't get an immediate approval when I called.  It stems from the fact that there's an extended fraud alert on EQ; I've had problems with instant approval in the past, so I was expecting it.  I hoped that by calling, instead of going online, they'd be able to do whatever verification was required while I was on the phone.  Didn't happen, so now I have to wait for a letter to arrive with further instructions. Smiley Mad

Message 7 of 8
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Credit card application leading to soft pulls by current creditors?


Watchmann wrote:
Always keep one thing in mind, the credit agencies do not exist for you, they exist for credit providers. The market for the public is just a sideline for them to bring in some extra money to show you a minimal amount of data. They sell all kinds of custom designed products and if AMEX wants to be notified of all people living in Illinois whose last names begin with 'C' with FICO scores in the 650-750 range who apply for credit with card XYZ that can easily be provided. I'm not surprised at all. We live in a fishbowl and all of our financial lives are for sale. That's the price we pay for automated credit systems.

Good point, and always one to keep in mind!


edited to add the quote
Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-16-2010 03:04 PM
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
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