Your credit score and credit rating are very important factors when a credit card company determines your credit worthiness, or likeliness of default, for a credit card. A “hard inquiry” (also called a “hard pull”) on your credit report takes place when you apply for a credit card.
A hard inquiry lowers your overall score and is a full inquiry in to your credit history. It is not a good idea to have more than one or two hard inquiries on your credit file a month. Your credit limit on your card as well as your interest rate can be changed at any time based on your credit rating, and too many hard inquiries can have a negative affect on your rating.
If you are going to apply for a credit card and are considering multiple credit card offers then it makes sense to apply for the various cards at roughly the same time since multiple hard credit inquiries will be treated as just one inquiry if they are done at or around the same time frame.
The negative effects of a hard inquiry are typically only felt for a few months and then the credit score will increase to return to the previously higher level.
Click here to do a “soft inquiry” (“soft pull”) on your credit report and check out what your credit score is or find the best credit card offers!
Click for the full glossary of credit card terms.
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