Just one datapoint, last July I opened up a new card and got a single HP on my Experian report; on that day I had an EX-8 score of 765; the next day my score dropped to 758, so only a 7-point drop. My scores pretty much stayed within a point or two of 758 until the HP from my auto loan aged to one year in October, and then my EX-8 score popped up to 770.
Edit: just another thought; it could be the reason why the combination of a hard pull and a new account only amounted to a 7-point drop was due to the $23,600 starting limit of the new card which in turn boosted my total revolving limit from $37,500 to $61,100.
@TheDude wrote:Many moons ago, it used to be anytime you applied for and received a new credit card account, it came with a hard inquiry to your credit report to at least 1 of the 3 bureaus. Recently I have noticed that sometimes there is no longer a hard inquiry coming with a new credit card account to any of the bureaus. For example, I have opened 3 new cards in the last 2 years, but I can only find 1 inquiry when I check different credit monitoring sites. At the same time, I noticed in the MyFICO app, the "Amount of New Credit" section shows "Recent Inquiries" as well as "Age of Most Recently Opened Account".
My question is, from a FICO scoring perspective, is there any difference between the two? My most recent account was opened 4 months ago, but it did not come with a hard inquiry, since MyFICO is showing I have 0 inquiries in the last year. If I applied for a new account and was approved but no inquiry came with it, is there no impact, or less of an impact, to my FICO score? Are there any new maximum "Inquiries" or "New Accounts" general guidelines within a 1-2 year period that I should consider when applying for new credit?
1. Most new accounts come with a hard inquiry. One exception to that is American Express. If you already have an Amex card, further applications are usually soft pull.
2. An inquiry and a new account have different effects on scores. Inquiries are batched, so that, if there are one or more scorable inquiries in effect, the addition of one or more new inquiries may or may not affect your score. A new account affects several metrics: (a) it lowers your average age of accounts and (b) it resets your age of youngest account, each of which can cost points.
3. There are no hard and fast rules, as underwriting standards (a) take into account factors other than scores, (b) differ from institution to institution, and (c) differ and evolve even within the same institution. The only rules I can say with confidence are: (A) the less hard inquiries the better, and (B) the older one's accounts the better.
@TheDude wrote:Thanks for all the replies! Yes, I applied for a new Amex so there was no inquiry since I had another Amex card already. Same happened for me with Wells Fargo.
I forgot to ask in my first post, but are there any general guidelines these days with having too many new accounts or inquiries within a certain amount of time that might lead to an issuer rejecting your application for new credit? Long ago, I seem to remember that you wanted to try to keep your inquiries to 3 per year or less or you stood a good chance of being declined for new credit, regardless of how good your score was. Has that changed, and is there any similar guidelines for new accounts opened within a certain time period?
No there are no general rules. It would be nice if there were, but there isn't.