Does preapproval affect your credit score?

Question

ClearValue Editorial Team · Accepted Answer

It depends on the type. A prequalification or soft-pull preapproval doesn't affect your score at all. A hard-pull preapproval creates a hard inquiry that typically trims your score by a few points temporarily. Most credit card preapprovals use a soft pull — but ask the lender which they'll use before you consent. The word 'preapproval' covers two very different processes. A soft inquiry — used for prequalification, preapproval marketing offers, and checking your own score — is invisible to other lenders and has zero score impact. A hard inquiry, which happens when you formally apply (or in some lenders' formal preapproval processes), appears on your report and can lower your score by a few points, though the effect is small and temporary. The label alone doesn't tell you which one you're getting: a lender may call either type a 'preapproval.' The safe move is to ask directly whether they'll run a hard or soft pull before you agree, so a routine offer doesn't cost you inquiry points you didn't intend to spend.