This is one of the most persistent myths in personal finance. Checking your own credit score will not lower it. Not even a little. Here’s exactly why.
Checking your score is a soft inquiry
When you check your own credit — through your bank app, Credit Karma, Experian, or anywhere else — it creates a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries have zero effect on your credit score. You can check every day for a year and your score won’t drop a single point because of the checking itself.
What actually does lower your score
Hard inquiries — when a lender checks your credit as part of a new application — do temporarily lower your score, typically by 5–10 points for about 12 months. Applying for multiple credit cards in a short period creates multiple hard inquiries and has a larger combined effect.
Why people get confused
People often check their score right before or after applying for something. If the score drops, they associate it with checking. But the drop came from the hard inquiry on the application — not from viewing their score. The timing creates a false cause-and-effect.
You should check your score regularly
Monitoring your score is genuinely useful. It’s one of the first signs of identity theft, errors, or unexpected account changes. Most banks now show your score for free in their app. Check it at least monthly — it costs you nothing and keeps you informed.
Free ways to check your score
- Your bank or credit card app (most offer it free)
- Credit Karma — free weekly updates, TransUnion and Equifax scores
- Experian.com — free monthly FICO score
- Chase Credit Journey — free, open to everyone even without a Chase account