How long does a personal loan pre-qualification offer last?

Pre-qualification is a conditional offer based on your credit and income at the moment of the soft pull. Lenders set expiration windows because your credit profile can change: you might take on new debt, miss a payment, or your income might change. After the offer window closes, the lender has no assurance that the original underwriting still applies.

Practical implication: If you're shopping across multiple lenders, don't wait too long after getting your first offers. Shop within a 7-14 day window so rates are comparable and no early offers expire before you're ready to decide.

A hard inquiry on acceptance: When you formally accept a pre-qualified offer, the lender pulls a hard inquiry to verify the soft-pull data, confirm your identity, and finalize the rate. This hard inquiry is what formally locks in the offer (or may result in a modified offer if they find something different in the hard pull that wasn't visible in the soft pull).

Rate locks: Unlike mortgages, personal loan rates are not locked from pre-qualification through closing. The final rate is set at acceptance time based on the hard pull. Shopping quickly reduces the risk of interest-rate environment changes affecting your offer.