There are two kinds of inquiries (or pulls) that can occur on your credit report: hard and soft. While both types of inquiries enable a third party to view the information in your credit report, only hard inquiries may impact your credit score. 

A soft inquiry typically occurs when a person or company checks your credit report as part of a background check or to make a prescreened offer of credit. A soft inquiry may be recorded in your credit report, depending on the credit bureau, but it does not affect your credit score.  If you apply for a f1RST Personal Loan from First Financial Bank, a soft credit inquiry is used to determine your eligibility and initial rate. 

Hard inquiries generally occur when a financial institution, such as a lender or credit card issuer, checks your credit report when making a credit decision. Hard inquiries will impact your credit score and they may remain on your credit report for two years. With the First Personal Loan from First Financial Bank, a hard pull occurs after you accept your rate and before you sign your Promissory Note.