---
title: "What is Credit inquiry? | Benefit Systems"
description: "A credit inquiry is a lender's check of a credit file; a hard inquiry is recorded and visible to others, while a soft inquiry is not."
source: "aus dem gebauten HTML abgeleitet"
---
# What is Credit inquiry?

A credit inquiry is a lender’s check of a credit file; a hard inquiry is recorded and visible to others, while a soft inquiry is not.

Also called: Credit check.

## How it works #

A hard inquiry follows a genuine application, a soft one comes from pre-qualification checks and from viewing your own file. How much a hard inquiry matters and how long it stays visible differs substantially between countries and bureaus. In Germany the decisive distinction is between a rate enquiry and a credit application, because only the second is stored as a marker.

## Not to be confused with #

A credit inquiry is not the same as a hard pull: it is the umbrella term and splits into a hard pull and a soft pull. Only that distinction says whether the check is visible to others and whether it affects the score.

## In German #

The German term is Bonitätsanfrage. [German version of this term](/de/glossar/bonitaetsanfrage)

## Related terms #

- [Credit score](/en/glossary/credit-score): A credit score is a number a bureau uses to express how likely a person is to meet their payment obligations.
- [5/24 rule](/en/glossary/5-24-rule): The 5/24 rule is a US issuer policy: an applicant who has opened five or more card accounts in the past 24 months is declined for certain cards.
- [Hard pull](/en/glossary/hard-pull): A hard pull is a check of a credit file made because a lending decision is pending. It is recorded, visible to other lenders and counts towards the score.
- [Credit limit](/en/glossary/credit-limit): A credit limit is the maximum balance a card account may carry between statements.
- [Soft pull](/en/glossary/soft-pull): A soft pull is a check of a credit file with no lending decision pending. Only the person concerned can see it, and it has no effect on the score.

## Articles that use this term #

- [Does applying for a credit card hurt your credit score?](/en/knowledge/credit-card-application-score)
- [How much credit limit do you need?](/en/knowledge/credit-limit)
- [Do you qualify for a business card?](/en/knowledge/business-cards)
- [hard-pull-vs-soft-pull](/en/knowledge/hard-pull-vs-soft-pull)
- [When is an authorized user card worth it?](/en/knowledge/authorized-users)
- [credit-utilization](/en/knowledge/credit-utilization)