A soft inquiry is when your credit report is pulled for informational purposes and does not affect your credit score. A soft inquiry is simply a review of your credit report that's used to determine if you are eligible for a pre-approved offer and may be used to verify who you are.  When a company conducts a soft inquiry, this is only visible to you, and is not seen by other lenders therefore it will not negatively affect your credit score. A hard inquiry is when a credit report is requested from the credit bureau for the purpose of evaluating you as a borrower. A hard inquiry can affect your credit score and can be seen by other lenders. However, keep in mind that hard inquiries are only one of the five major factors that help determine your credit score.  Other factors such a payment history and credit utilization play a much bigger role in determining your credit score.