That's not what I suggested. I'm speaking more on the lines of being pre-approved for credit, which usually doesn't require a hard credit inquiry.

Usually your own bank will do stuff like this, or financial institutions that you have history with.

Credit increases and new forms of credit that are pre-approved are generally what people should focus on, not filling out applications for credit as much as possible.

Such offers are not frequent as long as they're genuine, and usually result in a reduction in total credit utilization, which leads to a better credit score.

I also agree that filling out requests for credit without being promoted by your existing financial institutions can be detrimental, at least in the short term.

My credit isn't perfect and I'm continually trying to improve by paying down my loans and credit accounts to try to get them to and keep them below 50%, but if my bank sends me an offer for a pre-approved card, I'll go ahead and accept. When it arrives, I'll activate it then toss it in a drawer and do everything in my power to never use it, simply to get that utilization number under 50% and keep it there.