Do pre-approved credit card offers affect your credit score?

It may seem like pre-approved credit cards come with guaranteed approval, but this is not the case. A pre-approved credit card can still be rejected after you submit the application. The bank conducts a detailed verification of your credit profile, which includes your income, employment profile, existing liabilities and much more. The final approval also depends on the card issuer’s interenal credit risk policies. So, failure to meet any of the set criteria might lead to rejection.

No, getting a pre-approved credit card won’t affect your credit score. Before sending such an offer, card issuers usually review your credit profile, primarily your credit score, through a soft enquiry, which has no impact on your score.

But when you apply, the card issuer performs a hard enquiry to obtain additional information, which impacts your credit score. Applying for multiple pre-approved cards can result in several hard enquiries, which may lower your credit score.

Pre-approved offers are essentially advertisements and may or may not meet your particular needs. You should avoid them in the following situations:

Better options available: You may find cards from other issuers with more suitable features, so always compare before applying.