A soft credit check, also known as a soft inquiry or soft pull, is a credit inquiry that does not affect an individual's credit score. It can be initiated by an individual or a company and is typically used for preapproval financing offers, background checks, or credit monitoring. Soft inquiries are visible only to the individual and do not impact their credit score, making them a useful tool for individuals to check their own credit or for companies to conduct background checks. Examples of soft inquiries include checking your own credit, potential employers checking your credit, and financial institutions that you do business with checking your credit
. Soft inquiries are different from hard inquiries, which are initiated by a lender when an individual applies for credit, such as a mortgage, credit card, or loan. Hard inquiries can impact an individual's credit score and are visible to other lenders. In contrast, soft inquiries have no effect on the credit score and are visible only to the individual
