To stop prescreened credit card offers, register at OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688). This is the official opt-out run jointly by the four major credit bureaus, and it removes your name from the marketing lists they sell to card issuers and insurers. You can opt out for five years online or by phone, or opt out permanently by completing a signed form the system mails you.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance It’s free, and it does not affect your credit score.
How the Opt-Out Works
Whether you use the website or the phone line, you’ll be asked for your full legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, and current mailing address. The Social Security number is how the bureaus match you to the right credit file, and the site encrypts what you submit.2OptOutPrescreen.com. OptOutPrescreen.com Information
You then pick between two options:
- A five-year opt-out, which is completed entirely online or by phone with no paperwork.
- A permanent opt-out, which starts the same way but is not finalized until you print the Permanent Opt-Out Election form the system generates, sign it, and mail it back to the address on the form.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance
If you later decide you want prescreened offers again, you can opt back in through the same website or phone number.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance
Why You Get These Offers in the First Place
The Fair Credit Reporting Act lets card issuers and insurers ask Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, or Innovis for a list of consumers whose credit profiles meet certain criteria, such as a minimum score or clean payment history. The company then mails an offer to everyone on that list without you ever having applied.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance These “prescreened” or “preapproved” mailings come from your actual credit file, not from a general ad network. The same law that permits the practice gives you the right to opt out.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports – Section: Election of Consumer To Be Excluded From Lists
When Will the Offers Stop?
Your request is processed within five days, but mail already in the pipeline will keep arriving for several weeks because card issuers prepare their mailings well in advance.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance Give it a month or two before concluding something has gone wrong.
A five-year opt-out expires automatically after 60 months, and the bureaus are not required to remind you. If you picked that option and want to stay off the lists, put a calendar note for yourself. A permanent opt-out stays in place until you decide to opt back in.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance
Does Opting Out Hurt Your Credit?
No. Removing yourself from prescreened marketing lists has no effect on your credit score or credit history. You can still shop for credit cards, apply for loans, and receive offers from any company you contact on your own. The opt-out only stops the bureaus from putting your name on marketing lists sold to companies you haven’t approached.
What the Opt-Out Won’t Cover
OptOutPrescreen stops prescreened offers generated from your credit file. It does not stop every piece of credit card mail you might receive.
A bank, card issuer, or insurer where you already have an account can keep sending marketing. Under federal affiliate-marketing rules, a company can also share information about you with its corporate affiliates to generate offers, as long as it gives you notice and a way to say no.4eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1022 Fair Credit Reporting Regulation V The annual privacy notice your bank or card issuer sends usually includes a phone number or form for restricting affiliate sharing and third-party marketing. Use that to cut off the companies you already do business with.
Catalogs, charitable appeals, and other general promotional mail don’t come from credit bureau lists, so this opt-out has no effect on them.
If You Move
Your opt-out is tied to the personal details you registered with, and a new address may not be covered. If you move, submit a new request with the updated address. Include your previous address too if the move happened within the last six months.2OptOutPrescreen.com. OptOutPrescreen.com Information
Stopping Offers Sent to a Deceased Relative
Prescreened offers addressed to someone who has died keep arriving until the credit bureaus are told. Contact each of the three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to report the death; you’ll generally need a copy of the death certificate and contact information for the estate. Once the bureaus update their records, the name comes off prescreened lists. You can also call 1-888-567-8688 to register the deceased person’s name with OptOutPrescreen directly.
If Offers Keep Coming After You’ve Opted Out
Give it a couple of months first for the pipeline to clear. If a company is still mailing you well past that, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint or by calling (855) 411-2372. The CFPB forwards your complaint to the company, which generally has 15 days to respond.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint
A company that willfully ignores your opt-out rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act may owe statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation, without any requirement that you prove financial harm. A court can also award punitive damages and attorney’s fees.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681n Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance
Other Mail, Calls, and Email
Each channel of unwanted marketing has its own opt-out. If you want to go further than prescreened credit card offers:
- For catalogs and general direct mail, DMAchoice, run by the Association of National Advertisers, reduces prospect mail from participating companies. Online registration is $8 for ten years; mail-in is $9. Participation is voluntary, so some mail will still get through.7ANA. Consumer Choice Tools
- For telemarketing calls, the National Do Not Call Registry is free at donotcall.gov or 1-888-382-1222. Political calls, charities calling on their own behalf, survey-only calls, and companies you already do business with (for up to 18 months after your last transaction, unless you ask them to stop) are exempt.8Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry9Federal Trade Commission. QA for Telemarketers and Sellers About DNC Provisions in TSR
- For email, there is no central registry. Under the CAN-SPAM Act, every marketing email must give you a way to unsubscribe, and the sender has 10 business days to honor the request. You have to use the link in each sender’s message.10Federal Trade Commission. CAN-SPAM Act A Compliance Guide for Business
These channels run independently of OptOutPrescreen, so using one has no bearing on the others.