9 Things That Do Not Affect Your Credit Score

A couple days ago, a friend asked whether checking his credit report would hurt his credit score. After telling him that it didn’t, I realized that there is a lot of information on what can hurt your credit score. What about the things that do nothing to your credit score? The Types of Credit Inquiries A soft pull or inquiry is a request to see your credit report by a party that didn’t receive your consent to do so. Account reviews made only by you also fall under this category. A hard pull or inquiry is a request to see your credit report when you authorize a party to do so. Applying for a credit card or loan would result in a hard pull by the bank or institution. Things With No Effect On Credit Score Ordering your credit report or credit score. Whether your order your free credit report or myFICO score, doing so is considered a personal account review, which is a soft inquiry. Asking for a lower interest rate on your credit card. Just talking to a customer representative isn’t going to result in a negative consequence. In fact, your credit score may end up increasing if you get the lower APR. But, you still might want to be careful about making this move. Having an overdraft on your checking account. Unless your bank reports you to a collection agency for the overdrawn amount, the only penalty would be the overdraft fee. Receiving credit counseling. Seeking help with your debt doesn’t affect your credit. But, the debt management vehicles you use as a result of credit counseling could hurt your credit score. Making multiple payments in a single billing cycle. All that matters to the credit card company is that you pay the minimum due for the month. Multiple payments in a billing cycle means nothing to your credit score. Getting married. Both spouses keep their own credit history and therefore, have their own individual credit report and credit score. Opening joint accounts, on the other hand, would create a new credit profile with both names on it. And joint accounts would have an effect on individual credit histories. Getting divorced. Just like when getting married, each individual has their own credit histories, except for joint accounts. The act of divorcing does nothing to your credit score. You still have to pay the debts on joint accounts. The best route is to inform all creditors of the divorce and divide the debt. This way, if one person doesn’t pay their share, the other won’t suffer from it. Receiving “pre-approved” credit card offers from banks. When banks get the information that determines you as pre-approved, they do a soft pull on your credit report and that is not seen by creditors. While many things will hurt your credit score, many things won’t. So now, stop fretting about whether this and that will affect your credit score. Taking Out Payday Loans. Many people claim taking out a payday loan from payday loan lenders has a positive effect on your credit score this is a lie.