Store and Bank Card Applications - Soft or Hard Inquiry?

[Anonymous]

More specifically, I was curious to see if anyone here knew if when you submit your application for a Walmart credit card (whether Walmart Credit Card, or Walmart Discover) it's a soft or a hard inquiry on your credit report. As well, was interested in knowing if it's a soft or hard pull when applying for a credit card through the bank you bank with (in my case, Wells Fargo). Would like someone's experience/expertise input on this. Thanks!

[JediNeo]

Greetings and welcome. When I applied for the Wal-Mart discover last it was a hard pull.

[Anonymous]

I would always assume hard pulls, and the lender may pull multiple reports.

There are a few exceptions to this rule.  For example, a CU may do a hard pull to open your basic account, and use the same hard pull for a CC.

[FinStar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

More specifically, I was curious to see if anyone here knew if when you submit your application for a Walmart credit card (whether Walmart Credit Card, or Walmart Discover) it's a soft or a hard inquiry on your credit report. As well, was interested in knowing if it's a soft or hard pull when applying for a credit card through the bank you bank with (in my case, Wells Fargo). Would like someone's experience/expertise input on this. Thanks!

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As others have mentioned, and for your two specific scenarios above, they will both be hard pulls if you are directly applying for either of those CCs.  Unless Wells Fargo pre-qualifies you (based on your overall banking relationship) or extends a pre-approved offer for one of their cards, then that can result in a soft pull.

[Anonymous]

Okay - thanks to everyone for the clarification.

[CreditUnionFan]

Assumption #1: Assume it's a hard pull (HP) all of the time.

Assumption #2: A lender has the right to pull reports from all three bureaus. Occasionally they may pull multiple reports from the same bureau.

As others have noted, some CUs will perform a HP for membership and may use that same report for other purposes for up to 30 days, but they don't have to.

I've had GECRB/Walmart pull Tu multiple times, as well as pull other bureaus. If you're borderline, there may be criteria, like if you're 625 on TU they may pull EXP, and if 650 on EXP, they pull EQ to see if you meet their score requirement on one of the big three.

YMMV...  I was in a Peebles (Stage Stores) and was asked at a register. Since it was a guaranteed discount either way, I agreed, and when I saw my disclosure, it showed as "Account Review"(AR) by Comenity Bank. (Yes, I'd tried the shopping cart trick and it never popped up)

Last week, for the ToysRUs card, it was a single HP on TU. Looking through the history, I see a pull for the TJX and the TJXDC (Mastercard) when I ended up with the store-only card instead of their Mastercard (dual card) option.