When an issuer does a hard inquiry, do they see...

[Anonymous]

When they see the balance on your existing cards, does that balance reflect the most recently posted statement, or does it reflect the actual account balance?

So if I pay a card in full, then put a few hundred dollars of spend on it, and near the end of that billing cycle I apply for another card with another issuer and they do an inquiry, will that card look to them like it's paid in full, or will they see the several hundred dollars of spend that was subsequently spent on it?

[fltireguy]

They are able to see the info from the last update. Generally, that is the previous statement balance, but, there are SOME lenders, like DCU, that update at a different time of the month

[Anonymous]

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@fltireguywrote:

They are able to see the info from the last update. Generally, that is the previous statement balance, but, there are SOME lenders, like DCU, that update at a different time of the month

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It seems to me, then, that if you want a particular balance (or zero) balance, to be visible to the prospective issuer, you should time your application to happen after that statement cuts and has been reported. Also, I've been given to understand that SP's contain mostly the same information that HP's do, the main difference being that doing a HP pulls up the very latest information (?) and makes an impact on your score, though I might be mistaken.

[fltireguy]

Correct - but remember that not all lenders report when the statement cuts. As I mentioned before, for example, DCU reports on the 1st, it doesn't matter what your statement date is.....

[DaveInAZ]

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@fltireguywrote:
Correct - but remember that not all lenders report when the statement cuts. As I mentioned before, for example, DCU reports on the 1st, it doesn't matter what your statement date is.....

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Hmm, interesting - is that for a credit card? I just have a car loan with DCU and that always reports on the end of the month. But with my local credit union it does that, a consolidated statement at the end of the month for checcking, savings & any credit accounts, but it reports the credit card on the 5th of the month, reporting whatever the balance is on the 5th. Must be a credit union thing, all my other CCs report the statement balance.

[RobertEG]

There is no difference, except for so-called promotional inquiries, for which the creditor gets only a listing of names and contact addresses, in the information provided via a hard or soft inquiry.  The difference is one of who can see a record of the inquiry in subsequent credit reports.

A soft inquiry is, by definition, an inquiry that is not shown in credit reports provided to others.  It is only viewable in reports obtained by the named consumer.  The substance of the report is the same (except for promotional inquiries).

If an inquiry is soft, it is not available to others, and thus not included in your credit score.