When people pull their own credit reports, for example when they receive their free annual credit report from the three major agencies, they sometimes worry that the inquiry will “ding” their credit score. This is not the case. Any time you look at your own credit report, the credit bureaus call that a “self-disclosure” or a “self-inquiry” and it does not help or hurt your score. Neither do inquiries from your existing creditors, potential employers, or businesses who are considering soliciting your business (also known as “promotional” inquiries). Your existing creditors will most likely pull your score a couple of times a year, as part of an “account review.” None of these inquiries will hurt you.
A self inquiry is considered a “soft inquiry” and does not affect your credit score. This is to differentiate it from a “hard inquiry” which is an inquiry that comes from a lender who is inquiring for the specific purpose of extending you credit. Numerous hard inquiries can have a negative impact on your score, but soft inquiries have no impact whatsoever.
The only sort of inquiries that will “ding” your credit rating are multiple “hard inquiries” made by new credit grantors whom you have explicitly authorized to check your credit. If you apply for a lot of credit cards in a row, for example, this may indicate to the credit bureaus that you are a distressed borrower who is contacting many lenders in hopes of an approval. Statistical studies reveal that this type of behavior is associated with a high risk of default. Therefore, multiple credit applications may trigger a reduction in your credit score, if you are not careful.
The only thing you need to be careful about, when pulling your own free credit report, would be if you accessed your credit report through another company, rather than directly through the official credit bureau website. This may also count as an outside inquiry if you are not requesting your report from the bureaus directly.