Actually, these days, the inquiries do post immediately. Their impact on one's credit score diminishes with time, though, and each inquiry "falls off" after two years.
Originally Posted by
sdsearch
I don't know about fraud alerts specifically, but you may be running your credit score into the ground (and you'll only realize it with a time lag). Applying for a number of cards at the same time isn't the issue by itself; applying then again just a month later is. The thing is, when you apply for a credit card, it puts an "inquiry" into your credit records. A number of inquiries over a short time makes for a red flag temporarily. Now, the inquiry doesn't show up immediately, which is why 6 cards over 2 days wasn't a problem at that time. But now it's a month later, and those 6 inquiries, 6 new cards, have all shown up, and so you trying to open lots of additional cards is throwing red flags all over the place. (And, in fact, they may not all have shown up yet; it may be even worse next month, as even more show up!)