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Does Pre-Qualification Affect Your Credit Score?

5 min read

Last Updated: June 4, 2025

Table of contents

Key Takeaways

Credit card pre-qualification may tell you if a credit card company is likely to approve your application.
Pre-qualification doesn’t affect your credit score, but a full credit card application does.
A pre-qualification offer doesn’t guarantee that you’ll qualify for a specific credit card.

Credit card pre-qualification may tell you whether a credit card company is likely to approve your application for a credit card. This can save you time and help you find the right credit card for you. But does pre-qualification affect your credit score? And does it guarantee that you’ll get a particular credit card offer?

Let’s start by looking at how pre-qualification works.

What is pre-qualification for a credit card?

Credit card issuers often let you check your pre-qualification status online to see if that card issuer is likely to approve your application for a credit card. This is a great way to find out if you may qualify for certain credit cards before you submit a credit card application and get a hard credit inquiry on your credit report.

When you get a hard credit inquiry, it’s added to your credit report and can impact your credit score. That’s why pre-qualification can be helpful if you don’t know your credit score or want to avoid losing a few points.

To check if you're pre-qualified, you might need to provide personal information, like your Social Security number. The application may also ask for financial information, like your employment status, income, and debt. The credit card company will use this information to conduct a soft credit check. This lets them see your credit history. But, because it's a soft credit check, it won't show up on your credit report. If you decide to apply for the card, though, you’ll still get a hard inquiry on your report.

If you pre-qualify based on this soft credit pull, the credit card issuer will show you credit cards you're likely to qualify for. You may also see interest rates, credit limits, balance transfer offers, and other terms. You can then decide if you want to submit a full application for a credit card.

Does pre-qualification affect your credit score?

Because pre-qualification uses a soft credit inquiry, it doesn’t affect your credit score.

You can complete the online Discover^® pre-qualification process to see if you’re likely to get the card you want. And there’s no harm to your credit score to check if you’re pre-approved.¹

See If You’re Pre-Approved

In most cases, you don’t have to pre-qualify to apply for a credit card. But it can be helpful to know how likely the card issuer is to approve your application. And if your pre-qualification shows that you’re unlikely to get the card you want, you might decide not to apply. This means you won’t get the hard credit check from a full application and your credit score won’t be impacted.

If you’re trying to build or rebuild credit, it may be a good idea to fill out a pre-qualification application before you decide whether you’ll submit a full credit card application.

Are pre-qualification and pre-approval the same?

Pre-qualification and pre-approval are slightly different. Both processes tell you your likelihood of qualifying for a credit card. The difference lies in who starts the process. A consumer initiates pre-qualification by completing an application. A lender usually initiates the pre-approval process by requesting your information from a credit bureau.

This is why you may receive a pre-approval letter in the mail without filling out a form. (You can pre-qualify or be pre-approved for other types of loans, too. You may have seen mortgage pre-qualifications or car loan pre-approval letters in your mailbox).

The distinction between pre-approval and pre-qualification is subtle. Many credit card companies use the terms interchangeably.

Does credit card pre-qualification hurt your credit score?

Pre-qualification typically doesn’t affect your credit score. When you apply for pre-qualification, you agree to let the credit card issuer complete a soft credit inquiry. Fortunately, a soft credit check doesn’t leave a negative mark on your credit report.

Remember that a hard inquiry will impact your credit score. If you fill out a full credit application, a credit reporting agency will put a hard inquiry on your credit report. That could reduce your credit score by a few points. If you want to get a credit card, you’ll need to fill out an application and get a hard inquiry, even if you’ve pre-qualified.

Because pre-qualification doesn’t affect your credit score, it can be helpful when comparing credit cards or terms from multiple issuers. If you apply for several credit cards at the same time and generate multiple hard inquiries, your credit score may go down. Soft credit inquiries don’t have the same impact.

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Does pre-qualification mean you’ll get a new credit card?

Pre-qualification could give you valuable guidance, but it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get the credit card you want. If you want to move forward with a pre-qualified offer, you must complete the full application process.

Unlike pre-approval or pre-qualification, a full application requires a hard credit inquiry, and hard inquiries affect your credit score. That’s why a complete credit card application will likely impact your credit score. However, your score should recover quickly with responsible credit card use.

The bottom line

Pre-qualification tells you if a credit card issuer is likely to approve your application for a credit card. It may also let you see the terms of available credit card offers. And it doesn’t affect your credit score.

Because of this, pre-qualification may be a good idea when you’re comparing credit cards. If you can pre-qualify for a few different cards, you can compare interest rates, introductory APR terms, and other information. That comparison may help you decide on the best card to apply for.

Pre-approval is similar, but doesn’t require that you fill out an application. Instead, you may receive a pre-approved offer in the mail. This could be from a credit card company, but mortgage pre-approvals are also common. You could get a pre-approval letter for a personal loan or car loan, too.

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