(Credit goes to SDixey for suggesting this topic.)
Banks and other institutions are pulling HARD credit inquiries on their customers with ever-increasing frequency. Whether its because of 9/11 and the "Know your Customer" regs, or just making sure you arent a fraudster or deadbeat, doesnt really matter, the fact is that its being done regularly.
While inquiries are not a big issue for those with perfect credit, too many hard inquiries on one's credit report can be harmful if your credit is borderline, and can result in higher loan or insurance rates. Most people usually expect hard credit inquiries to occur when they apply for credit, a cell phone, a job, an apartment, or insurance. And these places usually disclose that a credit report is being pulled. Thus, we usually take steps to minimize the # of inquiries.
However, many people are surprised (and displeased) to find out their credit reports have been dinged with HARD inquiries when opening DEPOSIT accounts, such as checking and money market accounts. This has been discussed extensively in THIS thread. If you wish to discuss your opinions on this practice, please post in this linked thread.
The purpose of this thread is SOLELY TO LIST INSTITUTIONS WHICH PULL HARD CREDIT INQUIRIES WHEN OPENING A NON-CREDIT ACCOUNT. Simply name the institution, whether it be a bank, cell phone provider, insurance company, etc. You may also want to state whether they INFORMED you a credit report was being pulled. Please keep posts BRIEF, and limited to the items above, so this thread will be an easy-to-read list. Post all discussion and comments about this practice in the linked thread above.
