Does Checking Your CIBIL Score Regularly Reduce It?

Checking your CIBIL score regularly is a good habit you must have. Read on to know why.

When you check your credit score regularly, you are more conscious about it and when you are conscious about something, you make sure you take steps to stay on top of it or improve it. Each time you check your credit score, it is termed as a soft inquiry. Same applies if an employer checks your credit score before hiring you.

However, it’s a common misconception that regularly checking your credit score (soft inquiries) may affect your credit score negatively. Due to this belief, many customers avoid checking their score often. On the contrary, when you don’t check your score regularly, you are missing out on catching any errors or inaccuracies, if any, which may cause a dip in your credit score.

What Is a Soft Inquiry?

A soft inquiry is when you or someone you authorize (typically your employer or landlord) checks your credit score. A soft inquiry is usually done for non-lending purposes. Soft inquiries are less invasive and do not affect your creditworthiness.

Does checking your CIBIL score reduce it?

Soft inquiries do not affect an individual’s credit score and are not visible to other lenders or creditors. In fact, checking your credit score and monitoring various factors like payment history, new inquiries, etc. are good habits.

Additional Read: Why should you check your credit report regularly?

What Is a Hard Inquiry?

A hard inquiry, also called a hard pull, happens when you apply for credit, such as a credit card, auto loan, mortgage, or personal loan. The prospective lender checks your credit score before approving your loan or credit card application.

Does your CIBIL score decrease if you check it?

These inquiries are visible on your credit report and may have a temporary negative impact on your credit score. However, multiple hard inquiries within a short period of time can make you look credit-hungry to potential lenders and may have a negative impact on your credit score.

Soft Enquiry Vs Hard Enquiry. What Affects Your CIBIL Score More?

Hard inquiries can have a significant impact on your credit score, whereas Soft inquiries have no impact on your creditworthiness or lending decisions at all.

Hard inquiries are visible to other lenders and creditors who review your credit report. Multiple Credit inquiries within a short period of time can impact your credit score and raise concerns about your ability to manage additional credit responsibly.

It’s advisable to be mindful of hard inquiries and try to limit them when possible. Therefore, it’s important to check your credit score from time to time and report any inaccuracies you may find to the respective bureaus.

How Often Can You Check Your CIBIL Score?

Checking your credit score means finding out how creditworthy you are, which helps lenders determine if they should lend you money or approve your credit applications.

Here are a few reasons why checking your credit score regularly can be beneficial:

Monitoring for Errors: If you have the habit of checking your credit score regularly, you will be able to spot any errors or inaccuracies that might be negatively affecting your credit. You can report the errors to the respective bureaus and prevent potential damage to your creditworthiness.

Detection of theft or fraud: Monitoring your credit score periodically can help you detect signs of identity theft or fraudulent activity.

• Analyse any significant drops or unexpected changes in your score
• Analyse the credit inquiries listed on your credit report.
• Check for any unfamiliar credit cards or loans listed in your name
• Review your existing account for any any unauthorized transactions, unfamiliar charges, etc
• Check for inaccuracies in your address, phone number, or other personal information

Know your financial standing: Your credit score provides insights into your financial standing and creditworthiness. This information can come in handy when you are planning to apply for loans, mortgages, or other forms of credit.

FAQs

1. Would checking my CIBIL score cause it to decrease?
   Checking your credit score yourself is called a soft inquiry, and it doesn’t decrease your credit score. Monitoring your credit score regularly is a good financial habit.

2. Is it safe to check CIBIL score online?
   You can check your credit score on OneScore for free. It’s a spam-free credit management app that provides free CIBIL and Experian credit scores along with an easy-to-understand credit report.

3. How many times can I check CIBIL for free?
   You can check your CIBIL score for free every time on the OneScore app.