It may be possible to find payday loans that don’t require a hard credit check. However, these lenders will most likely want to perform a soft credit inquiry to check information and confirm that borrowers aren’t currently going through the bankruptcy process or pre-bankruptcy counseling.
People and financial institutions can access credit reports and credit score information via either hard or soft credit checks. A hard credit check is an official inquiry into a borrower’s credit history. Lenders usually request a hard credit check during the loan approval process as it is the most accurate way to get a depiction of a borrower’s current financial situation. Also, borrowers are entitled to at least one free copy of their official credit report from each major credit bureau each year.
Credit bureaus also report on hard credit checks. Each time your credit report accumulates another hard credit check, you may see your score drop up to five points. If you let your hard credit inquiries go unchecked, you may cause quite a bit of damage to your overall credit score.
On the other hand, a soft credit check is an unofficial inquiry into a borrower’s credit history. However, soft credit reports still contain much of the same information found in an official report. Borrowers can perform soft credit checks as often as they like with no consequence to their credit score. In fact, borrowers looking to improve their credit score are often encouraged to do soft credit checks frequently!
While some payday lenders may not require a hard credit check in order to receive loan approval, this type of funding may not be the best for your finances. Payday loans almost always come with higher interest rates and brief loan terms, which may cause borrowers to fall into a cycle of debt. Fortunately, there are better bad credit loan options available for people with less-than-perfect credit scores.
Bad credit installment loans from a direct lender can help you find a loan with rates and terms that fit in with your budget. That way, you can pay off your loan in easy installments, which can ultimately help you improve your credit score over time!
