Hard pull vs Soft pull

[Hcontreras]

This may sounds like a dumb question but, I've been wondering what the difference is between a soft and a hard pull? I mean, I know the difference but my question is when a lender pulls the report on a soft pull, how does it differ from a hard pull? Are they only able to see only basic information like score, DCR (debt to credit ratio), AAoA, etc? What exact can they NOT see with only a soft pull (if anything)?

[DaveSignal]

They can see everything that you can see when you pull your own credit report through a third party service (also a soft pull).  They cannot see other soft pulls that you would see if you pulled directly from a CRA.

[Hcontreras]

---

@DaveSignal wrote:

They can see everything that you can see when you pull your own credit report through a third party service (also a soft pull).  They cannot see other soft pulls that you would see if you pulled directly from a CRA.

---

Huh???

[Hcontreras]

---

@Hcontreras wrote:

---

@DaveSignal wrote:

They can see everything that you can see when you pull your own credit report through a third party service (also a soft pull).  They cannot see other soft pulls that you would see if you pulled directly from a CRA.

---

Huh???

---

So why would a lender chose to HP if they can see everything on a soft pull?

[DaveSignal]

---

@Hcontreras wrote:

---

@Hcontreras wrote:

---

@DaveSignal wrote:

They can see everything that you can see when you pull your own credit report through a third party service (also a soft pull).  They cannot see other soft pulls that you would see if you pulled directly from a CRA.

---

Huh???

---

So why would a lender chose to HP if they can see everything on a soft pull?

---

Its a lender / CRA policy to hard pull people seeking new credit.  Some lenders, such as Amex, have chosen to offer current members the added benefit of choosing to disregard this standard and only use a SP to get the same information.

ETA:  The credit reporting system doesn't work if no one gets inquiries on their reports when they apply for credit.

[Hcontreras]

---

@DaveSignal wrote:

---

@Hcontreras wrote:

---

@Hcontreras wrote:

---

@DaveSignal wrote:

They can see everything that you can see when you pull your own credit report through a third party service (also a soft pull).  They cannot see other soft pulls that you would see if you pulled directly from a CRA.

---

Huh???

---

So why would a lender chose to HP if they can see everything on a soft pull?

---

Its a lender / CRA policy to hard pull people seeking new credit.  Some lenders, such as Amex, have chosen to offer current members the added benefit of choosing to disregard this standard and only use a SP to get the same information.

ETA:  The credit reporting system doesn't work if no one gets inquiries on their reports when they apply for credit.

---

I'm just wondering why pretty much all do SP for CLI's except for Chase.....

[DaveSignal]

All lenders that I know of do auto-cli based on soft pulls.  When you request a CLI, this is credit-seeking behavior and it is standard to do a hard pull.  Out of my current cards, the only one that I have requested a CLI and recieved a SP is NFCU, and that wasn't the norm at that time for NFCU.  All others were HP.  So I don't think that Chase is in the minority.  Expecting everyone to do SP is like expecting all lenders to backdate their cards... it is possible, but not something that is likely to happen unless it has been corroborated among multiple other cardholders.

[Hcontreras]

---

@DaveSignal wrote:

All lenders that I know of do auto-cli based on soft pulls.  When you request a CLI, this is credit-seeking behavior and it is standard to do a hard pull.  Out of my current cards, the only one that I have requested a CLI and recieved a SP is NFCU, and that wasn't the norm at that time for NFCU.  All others were HP.  So I don't think that Chase is in the minority.  Expecting everyone to do SP is like expecting all lenders to backdate their cards... it is possible, but not something that is likely to happen unless it has been corroborated among multiple other cardholders.

---

Cap 1, AMEX, do SP when requesting CLI

[parakleet]

Discover does both SP and HP for customer initiated CLI requests. So I guess there's a difference. 

[DaveSignal]

---

@Hcontreras wrote:

---

@DaveSignal wrote:

All lenders that I know of do auto-cli based on soft pulls.  When you request a CLI, this is credit-seeking behavior and it is standard to do a hard pull.  Out of my current cards, the only one that I have requested a CLI and recieved a SP is NFCU, and that wasn't the norm at that time for NFCU.  All others were HP.  So I don't think that Chase is in the minority.  Expecting everyone to do SP is like expecting all lenders to backdate their cards... it is possible, but not something that is likely to happen unless it has been corroborated among multiple other cardholders.

---

Cap 1, AMEX, do SP when requesting CLI

---

Right... sorry, i thought you said that every lender except for Chase did SP.  You are right though, there are a few that do SP normally.