Do Navy Federal do a soft pull?

A credit inquiry—or credit pull—is a request made to a credit bureau for a copy of your credit report. There are 2 types of credit checks: soft pulls and hard pulls. The big difference between them is that hard credit inquiries may affect your credit score (such as your FICO®1 Score) and soft pulls don’t. How and why this happens is easier explained when you’re familiar with each type of credit inquiry and its purpose.

Soft Inquiries

Soft credit checks can occur without you ever noticing. Don’t worry—that’s normal. When a third party wants to review your creditworthiness or payment history but isn’t doing so to decide whether they should grant you a line of credit, it’s considered a soft credit pull. Before hiring you, a potential employer will often do a soft pull as part of a background check. Credit card companies will do the same before they send out pre-qualified credit card offers.

The bottom line is that when a soft credit inquiry is made, it doesn't adversely affect your credit score.

Hard Inquiries

When you complete a credit card application or a loan application, you’re telling the lender to pull your credit report. This type of inquiry is a hard credit check. As with soft pulls, the lender receives the information on your credit report. The difference is that hard inquiries can affect your credit score. A hard credit pull shows that you’re applying for new credit, so credit scoring models usually take it into account.

Protect Your Credit Report

Understanding the way hard pulls affect your credit report can help you protect your credit score from hard falls. For instance, if you’re rate shopping for a new loan and apply to several lenders within a short period of time, those inquiries will often only be considered one hard pull and may lower your credit score slightly but not much. However, if your credit search stretches out longer than a month and a half or you credit shop every few months, your score could eventually suffer because it may appear that creditors are rejecting you. Those hard credit pulls can stay on your report for up to 2 years.

It’s not hard to keep track of what’s going on with your own credit report. The major credit bureaus TransUnion, Equifax and Experian are required to give you free credit reports and address any mistakes or evidence of identity theft. You can get your free copies at www.annualcreditreport.com.

Stay in control of your personal finances and credit history by checking your credit report at least once a year, contacting creditors listed on the report to ask questions about inquiries that aren’t familiar, and only applying for credit you need and can afford. If you’re a Navy Federal Credit Union member, you can easily monitor, manage and take control of your credit score with the free Mission: Credit Confidence® Dashboard.

When you’re prequalified for a credit card through a financial institution like us, it means we’ve screened whether you can become a cardholder. By providing us with a few pieces of information, we’re able to run a quick credit check (with no impact to your credit score) and see if you’re eligible to receive a specific card before submitting your application. That way, there’s less of a risk of being denied! 

More Prequalification FAQs

What information do you need from me?

We’ll pull your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number from your member profile. You’ll just need to answer 3 questions:

  • Are you Active Duty?
  • What’s your annual income?
  • What’s your monthly housing expense?

How will you use the information you gather?

We’ll use your information to run a soft credit pull with the credit bureaus and confirm your identity. That’s it.

Is prequalification a guarantee I can receive this card?

Being prequalified for a credit card doesn't guarantee you can receive it. If your application isn’t approved, you’ll receive a letter from Navy Federal within 30 days explaining the reason why.

Is a prequalification the same as a preapproval?

A prequalification varies slightly from a preapproval. Both will determine whether you are eligible to be a cardholder, but a prequalification is typically generated by the member, while the financial institution generates a preapproval.

This question is about Navy Federal Credit Union

Rick Bormin, Personal Loans Moderator

@rhandoo2020 11/10/21 This answer was first published on 11/10/21. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.

Yes, Navy Federal Credit Union does a hard inquiry when you apply for a loan. This credit report inquiry will likely drop your credit score by about 5 to 10 points, but you'll be able to get back on track with a few months of on-time payments.

Navy Federal Credit Union's hard inquiry will stay on your credit report for two years, but it won't affect your credit after one year, and the impact may subside before then. To see how your individual credit score may be affected by a hard inquiry, you can use the credit score simulator on WalletHub.

If you're looking for a lender that does not do a hard inquiry at all, you could consider NetCredit, Opploans and Integra Credit.

Answer Question

People also ask

What credit score do you need for a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan?

Navy Federal Credit Union does not disclose a specific credit score needed to get a personal loan, unlike many personal loan providers. Although there isn't a specified Navy Federal Credit Union credit score requirement, Navy Federal Credit Union will consider people who have bad credit, according to customer service. Most other lenders' credit score requirements for personal loans range between 585 and 700.read full answer

Keep in mind that Navy Federal Credit Union will look at more than just your credit score when evaluating your application for a personal loan. Navy Federal Credit Union will consider your entire financial profile, including things like your income, existing debts and recent credit inquiries, when deciding whether to approve you.

If you're unsure of what your current credit score is, you can check it for free on WalletHub.

show less

How long does it take to get money from a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan?

It takes 3 to 11 business days to get money from a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan, in most cases. That includes both the time it takes to get approved and the time it takes for the funds to be delivered after approval. Keep in mind that this is a typical applicant's experience, and in some cases it could take longer.read full answer

How to Get Money From Navy Federal Credit Union as Fast as Possible

  • Fill out the application carefully. You should make sure that all information you enter on the application is correct and complete. That will eliminate any potential delays from Navy Federal Credit Union having to request additional information.
  • Check your credit report for errors. Before you apply, you should verify that everything on your credit report is accurate, as any incorrect negatives on there could impact your chances of approval. If you find any errors, you should dispute them right away to get them removed.
  • Apply online. Online applications have the fastest processing times since they are automated and streamlined.

Once you get approved for a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan, the money will be delivered through an electronic funds transfer to your bank account, which usually takes 1 to 3 business days.

show less

Does a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan affect your credit score?

Yes, a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan does affect your credit score, both when you apply and during the entire time that you are paying the loan off. Initially, a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan will affect your credit score in a negative way, but the long-term impact can be very positive, assuming you repay the loan on schedule.read full answer

How a Navy Federal Credit Union Personal Loan Affects Your Credit Score

Hard pull: When you apply for a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan, Navy Federal Credit Union will do a hard inquiry into your credit history, which will temporarily drop your credit score by about 5-10 points in most cases.

Increased debt level: Taking out a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan will naturally increase the amount of debt that you have. Since your debt level is one of the components of your credit score, you can expect that to have a negative impact initially.

Account diversity: One positive way that getting a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan can impact your score right away is by adding more diversity to the types of accounts you have open. Your "credit mix" is one of the components of your credit score, and the more types of accounts you have, the better - as long as you handle them responsibly.

Payments: The biggest factor in how a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan affects your credit score is whether you pay on time. If you make on-time payments, your score should steadily increase as a result. If you pay late or fail to make payments altogether, you can expect your credit score to drop.

The bottom line is that while a Navy Federal Credit Union personal loan does affect your credit score, most of the way that your score changes depends on how responsible you are with the loan. If you'd like to estimate how certain actions might affect your credit score, you can use WalletHub's free credit score simulator.

show less

WalletHub Answers is a free service that helps consumers access financial information. Information on WalletHub Answers is provided “as is” and should not be considered financial, legal or investment advice. WalletHub is not a financial advisor, law firm, “lawyer referral service,” or a substitute for a financial advisor, attorney, or law firm. You may want to hire a professional before making any decision. WalletHub does not endorse any particular contributors and cannot guarantee the quality or reliability of any information posted. The helpfulness of a financial advisor's answer is not indicative of future advisor performance.

WalletHub members have a wealth of knowledge to share, and we encourage everyone to do so while respecting our content guidelines. This question was posted by WalletHub. Please keep in mind that editorial and user-generated content on this page is not reviewed or otherwise endorsed by any financial institution. In addition, it is not a financial institution’s responsibility to ensure all posts and questions are answered.

Ad Disclosure: Certain offers that appear on this site originate from paying advertisers, and this will be noted on an offer’s details page using the designation "Sponsored", where applicable. Advertising may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). At WalletHub we try to present a wide array of offers, but our offers do not represent all financial services companies or products.

Did we answer your question?

Sorry! How can we improve this answer?

Does Navy Federal do hard pull?

Navy Federal does not carry out a hard credit pull when you apply for membership. However, you may expect a hard pull if you apply for any form of credit, be it a credit card, a personal loan, an auto loan or a mortgage.

Does Navy Federal do hard or soft pull for credit limit increase?

If you request a credit limit increase, you will be asked to give Navy Federal permission to do a hard pull of your credit report. This lets them assess your creditworthiness. The hard pull will cause your credit score to dip a few points.

What credit does Navy Federal pull?

Navy Federal normally uses TransUnion for credit card applications. However, they may pull an inquiry from any of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) when evaluating a credit card application.

What banks do a soft pull?

Issuers Offering Pre-Approval With a Soft Pull for Credit Cards.