There are a number of reasons you might need a personal loan. You may be trying to pay off your credit card debt faster by lowering the interest rate or completing some much-needed home improvements that went over budget.
Whatever the reason, you may be nervous to shop around for the best personal loan in fear of the negative impact it’ll have on your credit score. That could mean spending thousands of extra dollars over the life of a loan that’s not right for you.
If you want the best rate on a personal loan without hurting your credit score there are a few terms to know and one place you’ll want to go to save the most time and money.
Does Shopping Around For a Loan Hurt Your Credit?
In short: No.
Most lenders now use a soft inquiry, also known as a soft pull, to check your credit and pre-approve you for an offer. Soft inquiries don’t impact your credit score nor do they appear on your credit report.
Once you’ve been preapproved your lender will then do a hard inquiry, also known as a hard pull, of your credit scores and reports from one or more of the major credit reporting bureaus. A hard inquiry does appear on your credit report and can impact your credit score.
When you’re shopping around for a personal loan you’ll ideally have multiple soft inquiries of your credit while looking for a lender with the best rate and terms. Since these inquiries don’t show up on your credit report you can have as many as you want with no negative impacts.
However, if you had multiple hard inquiries, meaning you went beyond getting preapproved and took out multiple new loans or credit accounts in a short amount of time, creditors would see that as a sign that you’re having trouble paying your bills and have a temporary negative effect on your credit score.
How to Get a Personal Loan Without a Hard Credit Inquiry
If you’re unsure whether you’re applying for a loan with a hard pull or a soft pull, use Fiona to get rates from multiple lenders in one place using only soft inquiries.
Fiona is a free search engine to help you find the best loans, credit cards, and savings accounts for you. Simply fill out a short form with your credit score, amount of money you need, and what it’s for and Fiona will give you the best rates from all the top providers in seconds.
And it won’t impact your credit score.
Instead of wasting time filling out the same application on multiple lenders websites Fiona puts everything in one place. And once you find the personal loan that’s right for it sends you to your lender’s website for just one hard credit inquiry.
Try Fiona out and don’t let the fear of negative credit impacts keep you from saving money with a personal loan.
Find a personal loan with Fiona without harming your credit
