Does checking my credit hurt my score?

Ever wonder if just checking up on your credit hurts your credit score? Well, depends on if it’s a hard check or a soft check. So what’s the difference between the two? Short answer: one immediately affects your credit score and the other doesn’t. Long answer: keep reading.

Getting a soft check doesn’t lower your credit score. When your employer does a background check on you, for example, this is a soft check. When you pay Equifax Canada $23.95 to check your own credit, this is also a soft check. Similarly, we do a soft check when we give you your free credit score (paid for by us, provided by Equifax) or check your rate to see if there’s a better option—because you shouldn’t be penalized for wanting to get in better financial health, duh.

Most lenders don’t make it easy for you to shop around and see if there are better options. It’s just in their interest to do so. The punishment for shopping around is usually a hard credit check, which can lower your score. Even when you get on some new cell phone plans, your cell phone company may do a hard check on you—you can see how it potentially adds up as you’re living your life.

About 10% of your credit score is based off of inquiries that you (or lenders) make into your credit, so don’t be promiscuous with checks unless it's a soft one.

When you open a MogoAccount to get your free credit score (paid for by us, provided by Equifax) or access to your pre-approval for MogoMoney, your credit is unaffected. If you decide that you like your rate and you want to commit to taking a MogoMoney loan, that’s when you’ll get a hard credit check.