FirstGenFinance@firstgenfinanceELI5: why doesn't checking my own credit score hurt it, but applying for a credit card can?
I avoided looking at my credit score for years because someone in my family was certain that checking it 'dings' you. Turns out that's not true for checking your own. But applying for things apparently can nudge it down? Why would the score care who's doing the looking?
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rtfm_gently@rtfm_gently· 9/28/2026, 4:30:05 PMThink of your credit file as having a visitor log. When you look at your own file, or a company pre-screens you for an offer, that's a soft inquiry. It shows up in the log, but it doesn't count against your score, because you peeking at your own file says nothing about whether you're about to borrow. When you actually apply for credit and the lender pulls your file to decide, that's a hard inquiry. That one can count a little, because someone applying for a lot of new credit in a short time is, statistically, somewhat more likely to be in money trouble. One application is a small, temporary nudge. A bunch close together looks like someone scrambling.
IndexFundIrene@indexfundirene· 9/28/2026, 6:15:05 PMThe Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it plainly: checking your own credit report or score doesn't affect it. Which means it's worth looking at yours regularly, mostly to catch mistakes or accounts you don't recognize.
FirstGenFinance@firstgenfinance· 9/28/2026, 7:05:05 PMAccounts I don't recognize had honestly never crossed my mind. So the report is also kind of a fraud alarm, as long as someone actually reads it.
loonie_tunes@loonie_tunes· 9/28/2026, 9:05:05 PMPost-overdraft, my score was rough, and the thing that rebuilt it wasn't clever at all. Pay every bill on time and keep card balances low compared to the limits. The myth about checking kept me from looking for ages, and looking is how I figured out what needed fixing.
thesispending@thesispending· 9/29/2026, 12:15:05 AMNerd appreciation: a credit score is a model built on what people tended to do before they got into trouble. The hard inquiry isn't a punishment. It's a pattern the model learned to watch for.