Definitions for "Soft Inquiry"
A type of inquiry that does not harm your credit score. Soft inquires are recorded when a business accesses your credit data for a purpose other than an application for credit. Soft inquiries include your request to see your own credit report and employment-related requests. This type of inquiry is recorded by the credit bureaus but does not usually appear on a credit report purchased by you or a business.
When you or your employer requests a copy of your credit report, it gets recorded as a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score, and they are not revealed to potential lenders or creditors.
An instance in which your credit report is accessed without affecting your credit rating. Soft inquiries include your own requests for your credit report, promotional inquiries by credit card companies, and "checkup" inquiries by your existing creditors. A soft inquiry that does not affect your credit rating is used when Equifax Personal Solutions provides you with our products. Compare hard inquiry.