 TITLE: How Is Your Credit Score Determined? CONTENT: New Credit\n----------\nRecent credit activity isn't a major determinant in your credit score, but several things can happen when you apply for and open a new account.\nFirst, submitting an application can lead to a hard inquiry—a record of the fact that someone reviewed your credit to make a lending decision. Hard inquiries can lower your credit scores, as they could increase your risk as a borrower in the eyes of lenders.\nHowever, credit scoring models are also built to recognize that consumers who are shopping for a loan aren't necessarily extra risky. After all, you might apply to get preapproval for eight auto loans to find your best rate, but that doesn't mean you're taking out eight auto loans. As a result, scoring models may \"deduplicate\" multiple hard inquiries that occur within a 14- to 45-day window (depending on the scoring model)—in other words, only count them as a single inquiry when determining your score.\nOpening a new account can also impact other scoring factors. For example, it may lower the average age of your accounts, which could slightly hurt your scores. But it also increases your available credit and presents an opportunity to make on-time payments on a new account in your credit report, which could help your scores over time. END