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Understanding AVA Credit Soft vs Hard Pulls and Pricing

Summary This article explains pricing options and key differences between soft and hard credit pulls as described for AVA Credit solutions, including Equifax-based soft pulls and the TransUnion soft-pull offering.

What is a Soft Pull Credit Check?

  • A Soft Pull Credit Check does not impact a customer's credit score.
  • Soft Pull Credit Checks enable dealerships to review a customer's credit profile earlier in the buying journey, improving customer experience and helping staff start conversations and structure deals before committing to inventory or finance steps.
  • AVA Credit's soft-pull capability returns full bureau-depth credit information (including a full TransUnion credit report when TransUnion is enabled) without requiring a hard pull.

What is a Hard Pull?

  • A hard pull is a traditional credit inquiry that typically impacts a customer's credit score.
  • Many dealerships currently perform hard pulls during finance qualification; these commonly cost dealers around $7 or more per hard pull.

Pricing options for soft vs hard pulls

  • TransUnion soft-pull (early access program) pricing:
    • $5.99 per Soft Pull Credit Check for early access participants.
    • $4.99 per Soft Pull Credit Check for volumes over 500 pulls per month.
  • TransUnion component is added on top of an existing Equifax AVA Credit package with usage-based pricing and no additional monthly fee.
  • Using Soft Pull Credit Checks that return full bureau data can reduce the number of hard pulls needed, helping dealerships lower hard-pull expense (many dealers pay ~$7+ per hard pull today).

Operational and integration differences

  • The TransUnion soft-pull offering uses the same soft-pull technology as Equifax soft pulls but provides access to the full TransUnion credit report without impacting score.
  • The TransUnion soft-pull integrates into a co-pilot workflow, allowing dealerships to perform a Soft Pull Credit Check while navigating other browser tools (for example, third-party dealer tools) to streamline salesperson workflows.
  • Shifting part of the credit-pull volume from hard pulls to Soft Pull Credit Checks can deliver earlier, lender-grade credit insight to sales and finance teams without the credit score impact of hard inquiries.

Benefits of using Soft Pull Credit Checks

  • Preserve customer credit scores while obtaining full bureau information.
  • Encourage customers to begin the credit-qualification process earlier.
  • Reduce hard-pull related costs by replacing some hard pulls with Soft Pull Credit Checks.
  • Improve dealer workflow by delivering full bureau data earlier in the funnel and integrating with browser-based sales tools.

Conclusion Soft Pull Credit Checks provide full bureau-grade credit information without affecting customer credit scores and are priced on a per-pull, usage-based model when adding TransUnion to an Equifax AVA Credit package (example rates: $5.99 per pull for early access; $4.99 per pull for volumes over 500/month). By replacing some hard pulls (commonly costing around $7+ each) with Soft Pull Credit Checks, dealerships can improve customer experience and reduce hard-pull expenses while gaining lender-grade visibility earlier in the sales process.