Checking your own credit harms FICO?
I'm brand new so feel free to send me off to an FAQ if I am treading
old and well coevered ground.
The other day I activated a replacement credit card and the upsell du
jour was some credit repair service including a periodic 'beacon
score' report. The lady described the beacon score as a FICO
facsimilie except better because pulling your own credit report or
getting your own FICO actually lowers your credit score.
My gut was telling me that she was a lying nut job.
Was there any truth to what she was saying?
Does pulling your own credit report or FICO score actually harm your
credit?
She was lying. The credit bureaus distinguish among three different
types of queries:
1. "Hard" queries: These are from companies where you have applied
for credit and given them permission (in the fine print) to get your
credit report. A "hard" query will lower your credit score slightly
because it may indicate that you are about to open another account,
which will increase your available credit. "Too much" available
credit is one factor that can lower your score.
2. "Soft" queries: These come from companies that are trolling for new
business. They are looking for people who are credit-worthy so they
can send them a "pre-approved" offer for a credit card or a home loan.
(It isn't really pre-approved, there's always weasel-wording about
"subject to income documentation" or "subject to credit
verification".) These don't affect your credit score, because it
doesn't really mean anything until you submit your application -- an
they pull a real ("hard") report. The response to a "soft" query has
less detailed info than that to a "hard" one.
3. "Consumer" queries: when you ask about your own credit info (or get
somebody like FICO or a credit monitoring service to do it for you).
These never affect your credit score because they don't indicate
anything except that you wanted to know.
I don't think these "credit beacon" or "monitoring" services are worth
what they charge, but if you're a nervous type you might want to spend
the money. Some of them allow you to check your credit report as
often as once a month. The 3 major credit bureaus will usually charge
you around $8 for each report. (Except you can get a free report any
time you are denied credit or "down-rated", and in some states you can
get one free credit report a year.)