 TITLE: Is There a Hard Pull on My Credit When I Apply for a Credit Card? CONTENT: How to Minimize the Impact of Hard Inquiries\n--------------------------------------------\nIf you have good credit and a history of on-time payments, an occasional inquiry as a result of a credit application will have a negligible effect on your credit scores. It's when you begin to apply for multiple credit products in a short period of time that you may see a significant dip in your scores (with the exception of rate shopping, as noted above).\nTo limit the impact these hard inquiries have on your scores, consider only applying for new lines of credit, including credit cards, when you really need them. To avoid bunching multiple hard inquiries for different types of credit products in a short period of time, wait for six months to a year between credit applications to lessen the potential impact on your credit.\nIf your scores are low and you want to see them improve, avoiding hard inquiries is important. Focus on making all your payments on time, and if you have any debt, try your best to pay it down as much as possible.\nTo find out more about whether you currently have any hard inquiries listed in your credit reports, consider getting your free Experian credit reports and scores to see what's in your credit file. END