Data on who pulls softs on which CRA

[MattH]

I just went to annualcreditreport.com and got all three of my reports.  Since I have Quarterly Monitoring at myfico and pull anytime with Experian, I already know what's in my reports.  So the main thing I learn with my annual free pull is who has softed me in the past twelve months:

TU:  Discover Card and Citicard

(Account Review; I have cards from both)

EX: Amex, AT&T, & Chase.  Note that Chase still pulls as "First USA," even though Chase acquired First USA years ago and I thus became a Chase customer.  My card says Chase and the account appears on my reports as Chase, only in their soft inquiries does the old "First USA" name still appear.

(Account Review; I have cards from Amex and Chase; my home phone is AT&T)

EQ: Softs from Citicard and Wells Fargo.  I have a Citi credit card and Wells Fargo has my mortgage.

Also Promotional pulls on EQ from SBC, Cap One, and Chase appear on my EQ history.  SBC acquired my local telco some years ago, and were in turn acquired by AT&T.  I have a Chase card and once had a Chase Auto loan which I paid off in 2008.  Neither my wife nor I has ever done business with Cap One, but we both get plenty of pre-approval offers from them.

Edited to add: I live in Connecticut.

Message Edited by MattH on 03-04-2009 06:56 PM

[RobertEG]

Matt, excellent job!  I too found that the only way I was ablle to peer iinto the merky world of all the pulls, both "hard" and "soft," is by ordering my free, full report from annualcreditreport.com.  It gives all inquiries. 

That is the absolute first step that I would advise anyone to take when first ordering their credit report.  It can only be done once a year, but it is free and complete.  It gives you the specfic coding used for each credit pull, which lets you evaluate their purpose and accuracy

The problem with the distinction between "soft" and "hard" pulls is that this is not terminology used anywhere in the FCRA.  The only statutory limitation placed on credit pulls in the FCRA is for those that involve credit unsolicited transactions that were "not intiated by the consumer."  The promotional inquiiries.

To help FICO differentiate, the CRAs have about eight different codes that specify the purpse for any credit inquiry, and FICO ignores certain codes, such as promotional inquiries, pulling of your own CR, or simple account reviews, in their scoring.  But if a creditor inquires using the wrong code, it can hit you as a hard pull.  Some OCs will do this when simply evaluating a request for a CLI, and others dont. 

[MattH]

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@RobertEG wrote:

Matt, excellent job!  I too found that the only way I was ablle to peer iinto the merky world of all the pulls, both "hard" and "soft," is by ordering my free, full report from annualcreditreport.com.  It gives all inquiries. 

That is the absolute first step that I would advise anyone to take when first ordering their credit report.  It can only be done once a year, but it is free and complete.  It gives you the specfic coding used for each credit pull, which lets you evaluate their purpose and accuracy

The problem with the distinction between "soft" and "hard" pulls is that this is not terminology used anywhere in the FCRA.  The only statutory limitation placed on credit pulls in the FCRA is for those that involve credit unsolicited transactions that were "not intiated by the consumer."  The promotional inquiiries.

To help FICO differentiate, the CRAs have about eight different codes that specify the purpse for any credit inquiry, and FICO ignores certain codes, such as promotional inquiries, pulling of your own CR, or simple account reviews, in their scoring.  But if a creditor inquires using the wrong code, it can hit you as a hard pull.  Some OCs will do this when simply evaluating a request for a CLI, and others dont. 

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Thanks, maybe you and others could post your lists of who softed which CRA so we can accumulate a more complete list of who pulls where.

[haulingthescoreup]

lol, be careful what you ask for. I know for a fact that all three are "losing" my softs, so I check monthly and keep a running list. I'm in Tennessee, btw:

EQ as of 1/22/09

AR-CITI SD- THE HOME DEPOT --monthly
AR-SEARS/CBSD --q/ 2-3 months, also on TU
AR-HOUSEHOLD BANK --q/1-2 months (Best Buy store card)
AR-FIA CSNA --quarterly (this is BofA)
AR-PENTAGON FEDERAL CREDIT UN --quarterly
AR-FIRST TENNESSEE BANK VISA ---quarterly, and this is a closed account: I'm keeping notes!

DTC-DISCOVER BANK --once, for MMA application

PRM-CAPITAL ONE - RTPM
PRM-CITI CARDS CBSD
PRM-HOUSEHOLD BANK
PRM-AUTO WARRANTY DIRECT
PRM-ELITE
PRM-CHASE N.A.
PRM-PEOPLES BANK CREDIT CARD
PRM-BANK OF AMERICA
PRM ONL-Bank of America --this was from their on-line pre-approval: they soft EQ and hard EX (+sometimes TU)
PRM-CAPITAL ONE
PRM-REPUBLIC FINANCE, LLC


TU as of 2/3/09

AR's:
CBUSA/SEARS --q/ month
DISCOVER FINCL SVC LLC --q/ 1-2 months (AU card)
MBNA AMERICA BANK NA PR --once
BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE --monthly, until I closed it

promos:
EXECUTIVE MORTGAGE
ADVANCED FINANCIAL SERVI
ELAN VISA
DISCOVER PERSONAL LOANS
FST BANK SYSTEM
WELLS FARGO FINANCE COMP
WASHMTL/PROV
AMERICAN EXPRESS --before I had one
AIG
THE TRAVELERS COMPANIES
CAPITAL ONE BANK RTPM
CAPITAL ONE BANK USA NA


EX as of 3/1/09 (doesn't differentiate between AR and promo's)

AMEX ACCOUNT REVIEW --monthly
AMERICAN EXPRESS CO --monthly
FIRST USA,NA --monthly (this is Chase)
BANK OF AMERICA --when I asked for CLI's; they usually soft EQ
USAA FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK
USAA SAVINGS BANK --quarterly or so
WFNNB --twice/ year
CHASE CARD SERVICES ---at opening and two months later; promo, I think
AI/CBSD --at opening
HSBC NV --promo
CHOICEPOINT/INS P&C --for USAA insurance



edit to add: didn't think to add all the softs from myFICO, TrueCredit, CreditSecure, etc. Had I done so, I would probably have broken the myFICO server.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 03-03-2009 10:35 AM

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 03-04-2009 03:52 PM

[smallfry]

Current Account Reviews

Walmart...Equifax... No Change

Penfed     Equifax... No Change

NFCU      Equifax... No Change

BofA        Experian  No Change

Chase     Experian...No Change

Citi        EQ and TU  They originally pulled EX they no longer pull it.

I have noticed no increase in the frequency of account reviews by my current issuers during the "crunch" at all with the exception of Citi who now reviews my EQ every month. 

Since I opted back in 6 months ago the only offers for credit that I have received have been from Discover. Capital One has started to soft but I have not received any offers in the mail. 

[MattH]

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@smallfry wrote:

Current Account Reviews

...Since I opted back in 6 months ago the only offers for credit that I have received have been from Discover. Capital One has started to soft but I have not received any offers in the mail. 

---

My wife and I continue to get frequent mailings from Cap One, frequent balance transfer offers from Citi, and a few others less frequently, but in the past few months the frequency of such offers we get from other companies has for the first time in memory gone down substantially.  We had been wondering when the rate at which we get such mail would decrease given the global credit crunch.

[smallfry]

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@MattH wrote:

---

@smallfry wrote:

Current Account Reviews

...Since I opted back in 6 months ago the only offers for credit that I have received have been from Discover. Capital One has started to soft but I have not received any offers in the mail. 

---

My wife and I continue to get frequent mailings from Cap One, frequent balance transfer offers from Citi, and a few others less frequently, but in the past few months the frequency of such offers we get from other companies has for the first time in memory gone down substantially.  We had been wondering when the rate at which we get such mail would decrease given the global credit crunch.

---

Did you pull your EX Plus score or what is part of a monitoring system"free" pull? I pulled my Vantage Ex a couple of months ago and found it to be about 55 points higher than my EX FICO. Number 1 negative was no active mortgage present, public record 2, seeking new credit 3 and installment balances (car loan) too high 4. 

FICO last showed public record 1 ,short history 2 and too many inquiries 3.

[Junejer]

This is just from EQ. Apparently, I am not eligible to pull full free reports from EX and TU yet. Notice the Q-Space, where they cleaned a bunch of softs. I suspect that they clean off the Q-space stuff too, because I have a bunch of softs that just don't show up after the date of the only Q-soft entry.

ANDERA
AR-CAPITAL ONE
PRM-CERTEGYlEDUCATORS CU
ND-CHOICEPOINT
AR-CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CU
CIClEXPERIAN ALRTS
Q-SPACE
CONSUMERINFO.COM
CSC
CSC
CSC CRDT SVCS CONS ASST CTR
EQUIFAX
ND-EQUIFAX
-ND-EQUIFAX CONSUMER SERVICES
FAIR ISAAC
FAIR ISAAC
FAIR ISAAC
ND-FAIR ISAAC
AR-GEMBlLOWES
AR-GEMBlLOWES
AR-HOUSEHOLD BANK
AR-PENTAGON FEDERAL CREDIT
UN
TRUELINK
TRUELINK
AR-US BANK NA

[smallfry]

Byrdman did you join AFCU? 

[Junejer]

Nope. Is that who Andera is?