Credit Inquiry: Could it affect your Credit Score ?

First of all:

Credit Inquiries don’t have that high impact on credit scores. Many people misinterpret the bad potential of a credit inquiry.
Bigger effects on your credit score come from paying bills on time and having a rather low credit balance.

 

A credit inquiry is usually processed when you applied for a credit. That way the lender (probably a bank) gets your credit report and checks it for deciding on your creditworthiness. This credit inquiry itself could have a negative influence on your credit score. But only if its a so-called customer initiated credit inquiry.
Any other inquires which have not been started by you, e.g. frequent inquiries by your bank for administration reasons, will definitely have no impact on your credit score.

Credit Score: Also good to know

While inquiries are filed in your credit report for 2 years, most credit scores are only influenced by inquiries from the past 6 or 12 months.
So if you applied for a credit like 3 or 5 years ago it wont have any effect on your credit score calculation right now.

Also not every inquiry is handled the same way. There are even a few inquiries which are not counted at all. A good example for this is if you rate shopped for a best deal on an auto loan or a mortgage.

Credit Inquiry – Conclusion:

In general a credit inquiry has no negative effect on your credit score.
But try to pay back frequently and stay on a as-low-as-possible credit balance. Because these 2 factors really influence your credit score.

So if you decide to check on rate shopping or a cheap auto loan you shouldn’t worry about your credit score. Just go on.
However once you enjoy your new bought products or drive the new car of your dreams, you should keep in mind that you still have to pay for it.