I posted this on the general credit forum but haven't received a response yet - maybe this a more appropriate place...
When you call a c/c company to ask for a CLI and tell them that you don't want a hard pull, sometimes they will approve just with a soft.
It makes me wonder... what exactly is the difference (to them) between a hard and a soft? I know how it effects my credit report and score... but how is it different for them? Do they see more detailed info on the hard inquiry?
Just curious!
tonsers
When you call a c/c company to ask for a CLI and tell them that you don't want a hard pull, sometimes they will approve just with a soft.
It makes me wonder... what exactly is the difference (to them) between a hard and a soft? I know how it effects my credit report and score... but how is it different for them? Do they see more detailed info on the hard inquiry?
Just curious!
tonsers
As I understand it, the soft pull gives you the same information. One of the more veteran folks on here hopefully can explain why a hard pull is ever necessary!
@jsmith12345 wrote:As I understand it, the soft pull gives you the same information. One of the more veteran folks on here hopefully can explain why a hard pull is ever necessary!
Interesting. Well if this is the case - then what is their reasoning for not just using softs on all CLI requests? Seems like all it would do is ding our credit report... maybe they just want to punish us?
Creditors are supposed to report every request for credit, just as they are supposed to report all our screw-ups --late payments, charge-offs, and so on. If you think of it from their point of view, it's understandable: they want to be able to predict what kind of customer you'll be when you apply for credit with them, and so they need all the information that they can get. They pool all this info, and what we wind up with is our credit report.
Creditors feel it's important to know who's looking for credit, because excessive credit seeking could be a sign of either someone in serious financial trouble, scrambling for money, or of someone who's impulsive and undisciplined. That's why inqs are noted on credit reports. Asking for a CLI is in sort of a grey area --it's not like a request for credit, coming out of nowhere from a complete stranger, but it is asking for new (= more) credit. Some companies still believe in a relationship with their existing cardholders, so they don't hard you. Others take a more narrow view.
I've often wondered if those CCC's who say that they'll soft you but wind up harding you saw something a bit scary on your reports, and so they harded you anyway, so that it could be noted. The other explanation is that they're disorganized and confused, with terrible internal communication!
And all this is similar to how some CCC's practice GW and write off the occasional late, and others stick to their guns.
I'm not defending them, because I don't agree with a lot of the scoring penalties in the current formula, but this is what they're supposed to be doing, so it's not (necessarily) that they're mean, heartless SOB's.
Creditors feel it's important to know who's looking for credit, because excessive credit seeking could be a sign of either someone in serious financial trouble, scrambling for money, or of someone who's impulsive and undisciplined. That's why inqs are noted on credit reports. Asking for a CLI is in sort of a grey area --it's not like a request for credit, coming out of nowhere from a complete stranger, but it is asking for new (= more) credit. Some companies still believe in a relationship with their existing cardholders, so they don't hard you. Others take a more narrow view.
I've often wondered if those CCC's who say that they'll soft you but wind up harding you saw something a bit scary on your reports, and so they harded you anyway, so that it could be noted. The other explanation is that they're disorganized and confused, with terrible internal communication!
And all this is similar to how some CCC's practice GW and write off the occasional late, and others stick to their guns.
I'm not defending them, because I don't agree with a lot of the scoring penalties in the current formula, but this is what they're supposed to be doing, so it's not (necessarily) that they're mean, heartless SOB's.
Hi hauling, thanks so much for the response! That makes complete sense. I've never had any of my CCC hard me - I guess I've been lucky. So a "soft" is more of a courtesy... that's nice!
Wot she said
haulingthescoreup wrote:
Creditors are supposed to report every request for credit, just as they are supposed to report all our screw-ups --late payments, charge-offs, and so on. If you think of it from their point of view, it's understandable: they want to be able to predict what kind of customer you'll be when you apply for credit with them, and so they need all the information that they can get. They pool all this info, and what we wind up with is our credit report.
Creditors feel it's important to know who's looking for credit, because excessive credit seeking could be a sign of either someone in serious financial trouble, scrambling for money, or of someone who's impulsive and undisciplined. That's why inqs are noted on credit reports. Asking for a CLI is in sort of a grey area --it's not like a request for credit, coming out of nowhere from a complete stranger, but it is asking for new (= more) credit. Some companies still believe in a relationship with their existing cardholders, so they don't hard you. Others take a more narrow view.
I've often wondered if those CCC's who say that they'll soft you but wind up harding you saw something a bit scary on your reports, and so they harded you anyway, so that it could be noted. The other explanation is that they're disorganized and confused, with terrible internal communication!
And all this is similar to how some CCC's practice GW and write off the occasional late, and others stick to their guns.
I'm not defending them, because I don't agree with a lot of the scoring penalties in the current formula, but this is what they're supposed to be doing, so it's not (necessarily) that they're mean, heartless SOB's.
Well said Hauling! Thanks for putting it in perspective.