How reliable are soft searches?

caroline1973lefty

I’ve just done soft searches on Amex and Santander’s own sites (am looking for a cash back card) and got “pre-approved” for Santander card with 3.8k limit, and “9 out of 10” likelihood of approval on Amex.
do either of these mean I’ll definitely be accepted?
ive got good affordability and credit history *except* one default from 3 years ago. Which I kinda thought, nixed me for the better credit cards. 

Do soft searches see defaults??? I’m confused as to what they look at!
also, what’s the timescale for credit applications affecting other credit applications like mortgages - 6 months? 

Willing2Learn

You can still be declined credit, even though you are pre-approved for a product.  This is because they will do 'final checks' when you make an official application.  These 'final checks' include a hard search.

coachman12

caroline1973lefty said:

I’ve just done soft searches on Amex and Santander’s own sites (am looking for a cash back card) and got “pre-approved” for Santander card with 3.8k limit, and “9 out of 10” likelihood of approval on Amex.
do either of these mean I’ll definitely be accepted?
ive got good affordability and credit history *except* one default from 3 years ago. Which I kinda thought, nixed me for the better credit cards. 

Do soft searches see defaults??? I’m confused as to what they look at!
also, what’s the timescale for credit applications affecting other credit applications like mortgages - 6 months? 

Pre-approvals based on soft searches do NOT mean you will have an application approved, and in that case, it will affect your credit score and history. When you make a "real" application, based on pre-approvals or not, a hard search will be made. Yes, a default is the sort of thing that could make all the difference to the outcome. How long a declined application may affect your credit history can be as long as 2 years. Your credit score may or may not be affected but your credit score is not important----what counts is your credit history and companies look for a variety of things in your history that tells them what they feel is important, including defaults. All sounds a bit negative , Caroline, but one thing I know is that we never know what credit card companies are going to do when faced with an application.......so do not get downhearted.

PaulW922

Based on what you say, I would be more inclined to go for the Santander card as opposed to the Amex one. Amex have much tougher criteria