To permanently opt out of credit card offers, submit a request at OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688), then print, sign, and mail the Permanent Opt-Out Election form to the four national credit bureaus. The online or phone step alone gives you a five-year opt-out. The mailed form is what makes it permanent. Federal law requires the bureaus to remove your name from marketing lists within five business days of receiving your request.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
What You’ll Need Before You Start
The opt-out system checks your identity against the credit files kept by Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis. Have your full legal name, current home address, date of birth, and Social Security number ready.2Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance Your SSN and date of birth are technically optional, but leaving them off makes it more likely the request gets matched to the wrong person. If you’ve moved recently, keep your former address handy so the system can connect your old and new files.
You also pick the length of the opt-out:
- A five-year opt-out is handled entirely online or by phone. No paperwork. After five years, your name goes back on the marketing lists unless you renew.
- A permanent opt-out starts the same way, but it isn’t final until you print, sign, and mail the Permanent Opt-Out Election form to each bureau.
Starting the Request Online or by Phone
Go to OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688. Both reach the same system, which is jointly operated by the four national credit bureaus.3OptOutPrescreen.com. Opt-In or Opt-Out of Firm Offers Enter your information and choose the permanent option. The site will then generate the Permanent Opt-Out Election form for you to print.4OptOutPrescreen.com. OptOutPrescreen.com
Your five-year opt-out takes effect at this point. The permanent status does not. Until a signed form reaches the bureaus by mail, your election is treated as five years only. This is the step people skip, and it’s why some folks find prescreened offers trickling back into the mailbox five years later wondering what went wrong.
Mailing the Permanent Opt-Out Form
Print the form, check it for accuracy, sign it, and mail a copy to each of the four credit bureaus:2Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance
- Equifax: P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374
- Experian: P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
- TransUnion: P.O. Box 505, Woodlyn, PA 19094-0505
- Innovis: P.O. Box 530088, Atlanta, GA 30353-00885Innovis. Opt-Out or Opt-In
Once the bureaus process the signed form, your opt-out stays in place indefinitely unless you later ask to opt back in.
When It Takes Effect
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus must stop adding your name to new marketing lists within five business days of receiving the request.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Your mailbox won’t go quiet that fast. Lenders often pull their lists weeks or months before a mail campaign actually drops, so offers from older batches keep arriving for a while.
The FTC notes it may take several weeks before you see a real drop.2Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance A gradual decline is normal. A handful of offers in the first few weeks is pipeline runoff. If offers are still coming in steadily two or three months later, that’s worth looking into.
Offers the Opt-Out Won’t Stop
The opt-out blocks only offers generated from credit bureau marketing lists. A few other kinds of mail will keep coming.
Companies You Already Do Business With
Any bank, card issuer, or insurer you already have an account with can still market to you using its own customer data. The law treats these mailings as part of an existing commercial relationship, not as prescreened solicitations.6eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1022 – Fair Credit Reporting (Regulation V) To stop those, contact each company directly and ask to be removed from its marketing list. Many have an opt-out setting in online account preferences.
Affiliate Sharing
Large financial companies often share customer eligibility information among their affiliated brands. Federal regulations require separate notice and a separate opt-out for affiliate marketing, apart from the prescreened opt-out.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1022.21 Affiliate Marketing Opt-Out and Exceptions Look for affiliate-sharing disclosures in the privacy notices your financial institutions send each year.
Mail That Doesn’t Come From Credit Bureau Lists
Local businesses, charities, political groups, and catalog companies usually source your address from public records, their own lists, or data brokers unrelated to the credit bureaus. None of that mail is covered by the FCRA opt-out.
Opting Out a Child
You can’t opt a minor out through the website or phone line. You have to mail a written request directly to each of the four credit bureaus. Include the child’s full name, address, and date of birth, along with copies of the child’s birth certificate, Social Security card, and your government-issued ID.2Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance If a child is receiving prescreened credit offers and shouldn’t have a credit file at all, that can be a sign of identity theft, which you can report at IdentityTheft.gov.
Changing Your Mind Later
If you want prescreened offers back, use the same channels: visit OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688 and request to opt back in.2Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance The statute allows the bureaus to add you back to marketing lists once you notify them that your election is no longer in effect.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Prescreened offers sometimes carry competitive rates you wouldn’t otherwise see, since the lender already knows your credit profile qualifies.
Does Opting Out Hurt Your Credit Score?
No. Opting out has no effect on your credit score or your ability to get approved for credit you apply for yourself. The inquiries lenders use to build prescreened lists are soft inquiries that appear only on the version of your credit report you can see, and no scoring model counts them. Whether you’re on the marketing lists or off them, your score is the same, and any lender you approach directly will evaluate you the same way.