Credit rating of each consumer depends on various factors such as on-time debt payments, debt utilization rate, the length of the credit history, and the presence of any derogatory marks on the reports. Each of these categories affects your ability to qualify for credit products in the future. If you decide to check your credit, it won’t lower it. But if a lending company or some other service verifies it with a hard inquiry, you may get your rating lowered by a few points.