Does Credit Karma Affect Your Score?

Today, Credit Karma is one of the leading free credit score and credit report monitoring platforms out there. As a company that has more than 100 million members, Credit Karma grants users simple internet access to their credit scores from TransUnion and Equifax, which are refreshed weekly. It also helps track users’ credit reports and notifies them of any changes that may affect their scores.

So, the question arises, does Credit Karma hurt your credit score since it entails the pulling of your credit reports? Does checking your scores and reports somehow cause them to drop in any way? In this article, I will analyze the extent to which Credit Karma influences your credit and how.

What is the difference between a hard credit check and a soft credit check?

You have to separate a soft from a hard inquiry to find out if Credit Karma affects your ratings.

The corporation does a hard inquiry—that is, pulls your credit report—when you apply for a credit card, vehicle loan, or mortgage. One cannot perform a hard check without your authorization. At least a few points will be deducted from your credit score after a thorough investigation. A hard check remains on your credit record for two years and begins to lower your credit score less and less with time.

Conversely, soft credit checks on your credit report do not call for your specific consent to be done. There is no way soft queries help to determine your credit score. Among the gentle questions are those from possible corporations, insurance firms, or your current creditors reviewing your account. Soft checks also include times when you run your credit score or report.

This service does not adversely affect your credit scores as Credit Karma does not retrieve your credit data and examine it to offer you the necessary information.

In a similar fashion, how does Credit Karma get access to your scores?

When registering, Credit Karma collects basic personal data: name, date of birth, Social Security Number, and residential address. This enables them to retrieve your credit file securely.

Credit Karma uses only data from TransUnion and Equifax to get your credit information. This way, they can furnish your current TransUnion and Equifax credit scores without harming your credit rating in the process.

They do this because they can access the credit reports using a soft pull. Soft inquiries do not report to the lenders and do not have an impact on the scores.

When Should You Check Your Scores?

Because the act of checking the credit scores on Credit Karma does not affect the scores negatively, many individuals use the site to check their credit scores more frequently. However, how frequently should you glance at your credit scores? Here are some guidelines:

• If you’re about to apply for new credit: Before making any credit applications, check your latest scores one to two months prior. Please ensure that there is no mistake or any malicious activity that is bringing down your scores. This provides you with the opportunity to challenge and rectify any issues with the information.
• If you’ve applied for new credit recently: Do not check for at least three months. Continually monitoring scores after seeking credit is likely to appear odd and lead to inquiries in the report.
• If you’re monitoring activity: It is recommended to do it every three to six months. Regularly checking your credit reports and scores enables you to identify cases of fraud when they occur. It also explains the effects of your daily spending on your credit.
• If nothing’s changed: It is recommended to check for this at least once every year. If you are a holder of perfect credit and your credit activity is low, once a year is enough. However, when scores are low, monitor more frequently as you work to increase their performance.

The Takeaway

Credit Karma offers a feature to check your credit scores from TransUnion and Equifax at no cost. Simply utilizing Credit Karma as a native app, as an example, in no way impacts your credit. The service provides soft credit checks that do not affect scores or appear on the credit reports to lenders.

However, it is advisable not to check your scores too often since this can lead to scrutiny by the lenders, and this in one way reduces the scores. Be very cautious with Credit Karma. However, it is advisable to limit the checks of your scores to a certain level depending on the circumstances surrounding your case. Responsible score checking allows you to track the changes while not harming your credit score.

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