What Is a No Ding Decline^™ Personal Loan?

How Does No Ding Decline^™ Work?

Applying for a loan typically generates a hard inquiry on your credit report, even if you aren't approved. Because hard inquiries can lower your credit scores, you may hesitate to apply for a loan if there's a chance you'll be declined.

No Ding Decline^™ reduces that uncertainty by helping you avoid unnecessary hard inquiries. Here's how it works step by step.

1. Browse offers: When you log in or sign up for a free Experian account and visit the Experian Marketplace, you'll see personal loan offers matched to your credit profile.
2. Apply for a No Ding Decline^™ loan: When you apply for a loan labeled "No Ding Decline^™," the lender will perform a soft inquiry to evaluate your creditworthiness.
3. If you're not initially approved: Only a soft inquiry is added to your Experian credit report; your credit scores aren't impacted if you aren't approved.
4. If you're approved: Generally, at approval the lender performs a hard inquiry, which will be added to your credit report even if you later choose not to accept the loan or are declined during final verifications, such as income verification.

What Is a Soft Credit Pull?

A soft credit pull (also called a soft credit check or soft inquiry) happens when someone checks your credit report for reasons other than a formal credit application. Lenders may do a soft pull to see if you qualify for loan offers or when you apply for loan preapproval. Soft pulls don't affect your credit scores.

Once you formally apply for most loans, you'll need to consent to a hard inquiry (also called a hard pull). A hard inquiry appears on your credit report and could cause your credit scores to dip.

Unlike mortgage or auto loan rate shopping, personal loan hard inquiries typically aren't treated as one inquiry for credit scoring purposes. This means multiple hard pulls for personal loans in a short time period could have a greater negative impact.

Learn more: Hard Inquiry vs. Soft Inquiry: What's the Difference?

Where Can I Find Soft Pull Personal Loans?

"Soft pull loans" is a term some people use to describe loans that only require a soft inquiry for prequalification or to view your rates. You can find loan offers like these labeled "No Ding Decline^™" in the Experian Marketplace.

Simply log in to or sign up for an Experian membership, which you can do for free. Then navigate to "Loans" to see your matched offers. Experian aggregates personal loans based on your credit profile in one place, so you can conveniently compare loan offers that you are more likely to qualify for. Searching for and comparing loans in the Experian Marketplace has no impact on your credit scores.

Learn more: What Are the Different Types of Personal Loans?

Does Getting Approved Through No Ding Decline^™ Impact Your Credit?

Although applying for a personal loan labeled "No Ding Decline^™" won't hurt your credit scores if your application is not initially approved, it could have an impact if you're approved. A hard inquiry will be performed to finalize the loan, even if you choose not to accept the loan or are declined in the final steps of loan verification. A hard inquiry could have a slight negative impact on your credit scores, usually less than five points.

There are other ways a personal loan can affect your credit, both positively and negatively.

Learn more: What Affects Your Credit Scores?

No Ding Decline^™ vs. Competitors

There are other loan marketplaces where you can get prequalified or preapproved for personal loans. What makes the Experian Marketplace different is that you can actually apply for loans labeled "No Ding Decline^™" with no impact to your credit scores if your application is not initially approved.

Here's how shopping for a loan works on other sites compared to the Experian Marketplace.

Competitor Sites

1. Input lots of information, making your best guesses about your credit status, income and other criteria.
2. See a list of loans.
3. On many loan marketplaces, applying with a lender triggers a hard inquiry, even if you're not approved.
4. If you apply with multiple lenders and are not approved, you may accumulate multiple hard inquiries, potentially amplifying the negative impact to your credit scores.
5. Once you are approved, the hard inquiry and the new loan account will appear on your credit report.

Experian No Ding Decline^™

1. Log in or sign up for a free Experian membership and visit the Experian Marketplace.
2. See a personalized list of loans matched to your credit profile, with no need to input lots of information or guess about your credit scores. View and compare these loans with no impact to your credit scores.
3. Apply for a loan labeled "No Ding Decline^™" without dinging your credit scores if you aren't initially approved.
4. Once you are initially approved, a hard inquiry and the new loan account will appear on your credit report. Always check lender terms, conditions and requirements carefully.

Tips to Get Approved for a Personal Loan

The following actions could help improve your chances of getting approved for a personal loan.

• Check your credit scores. There's no universal minimum credit score required for personal loans, but you'll typically get better terms if your FICO^® Score^Θ is 580 or better, and a FICO^® Score of 700 or more could qualify you for the lowest interest rates. Before applying for a loan, check your FICO^® Score for free from Experian to see where you stand and get tips for improving your credit.
• Reduce your debt. Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) measures how much of your gross monthly income goes toward debt. A lower DTI could help boost your odds of loan approval. Paying down credit cards or loans or increasing your income could lower your DTI, which may make you more appealing to lenders.
• Enlist a cosigner. If your credit is poor or you're new to credit, getting a cosigner with good credit could help you qualify for more favorable loan terms with lenders who allow cosigners.

Frequently Asked Questions

No Ding Decline^™: Apply With Confidence

A personal loan can be an effective tool to consolidate high-interest debt or cover major expenses. You can use Experian's personal loan calculator to see how that could work for you. Then visit the Experian Marketplace to view your personalized loan offers and see which ones are labeled "No Ding Decline^™." With No Ding Decline^™, you can explore a variety of personal loans and apply with confidence.