How much does your credit score decrease when it is checked?

Your credit score does not decrease every time it is checked. Only certain kinds of inquiries cause it to temporarily decrease. There are two kinds of inquiries: hard inquiries and soft inquiries.

Hard inquiries are usually conducted by lenders where they pull your credit report(s) from the credit bureaus to assess your risk to them as a borrower. They take a look at your credit files which include your credit history, income, and other information. Hard inquiries are usually conducted when you apply for a new credit card or loan, rent an apartment, or put in a new phone or utility application. A hard inquiry can lower your credit score by ten points. These inquiries remain on your credit report for up to two years. This is why applying for multiple credit cards in a short period of time affects your credit score negatively. A few points are knocked off per credit card application.

With a soft inquiry, your credit file is checked for reasons unrelated to new financial obligations. That is, they may be performed as background checks, or simply for monitoring purposes. Many credit monitoring websites perform soft credit checks to let you know what your score is. Some other soft credit inquiries include credit score checks through your bank or credit card statement, pre-approval offers for credit cards or loans, and any other type of self-credit checks.