Funding situations
A handful of recent inquiries reads as a business shopping for money. A dozen reads as a business that has been turned down.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
At Merchant Fund Express, here is the short answer: Many hard inquiries in a short window read as repeated declines. Apply once with a complete file, and ask about hard pulls before accepting an offer.
Hard inquiries in a short window suggest multiple applications, which a funder can read as repeated declines. They lower scores slightly, and they are visible to the next funder.
| Approach | Effect |
|---|---|
| Soft pull first | We start with a soft credit pull, which is not a hard inquiry |
| One application | Your file goes to funders that fit it from a single submission |
| Ask about hard pulls | Whether and when a funder pulls hard credit is set by that funder |
| Path | What shows on the report |
|---|---|
| 6 applications in 30 days | Several hard inquiries stack |
| 1 application with a soft start | Typically no hard inquiry until an offer is accepted |
All figures in worked examples are illustrations of the arithmetic, not offers or quotes. Real terms depend on your file and the funder.
Source: Merchant Fund Express.
See soft credit pull and hard credit pull.
An owner applied to seven places in a month and has seven hard inquiries. She stops, waits for the oldest to age and sends one complete file with a soft start. The next review reads the statements and not the inquiry count. A second owner had one clean application and no inquiry until she accepted an offer.
Source: Merchant Fund Express.
Two years on the report, with the effect fading much sooner. Source: Merchant Fund Express.
No. It does not appear to other lenders.
Rarely on its own; it is read with the rest of the file.
Once, with a complete file, and ask about hard pulls before accepting.
Merchant Fund Express gives a same-day decision. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.
