To opt in to prescreened offers, submit a free request at OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688. The same system that handles opt-outs handles opt-ins, and one submission reverses your election with all four major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance Once processed, the bureaus can again include your name on the marketing lists they sell to lenders and insurers making pre-approved credit and insurance offers.
How To Submit The Opt-In Request
Go to OptOutPrescreen.com and select the option to opt in, or call the toll-free number and follow the automated prompts. There is no fee either way.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance
The system needs enough information to match you to the correct file at each bureau. Have the following ready:
- Your full legal name, including any suffix such as Jr. or Sr.
- Your current address, matching what the bureaus have on file.
- Your previous address if you moved within the last six months, since the bureaus may still list the old one.2TransUnion. Prescreen Opt Out
- Your Social Security number and date of birth. These are marked optional on some interfaces, but skipping them makes it harder for the system to locate your file.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance
Finish the confirmation step. If you close the browser before the final submission online, or hang up before the automated system confirms your data by phone, the request is discarded and your opt-out remains in place. You do not need to contact Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, or Innovis separately. One submission covers all four.
What Opting In Actually Reverses
Opting in cancels whichever type of opt-out you previously filed. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act there are two:3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
- A five-year opt-out completed through OptOutPrescreen.com or by phone. It expires on its own after five years.
- A permanent opt-out, which requires a signed election form mailed to the bureaus and lasts until you affirmatively cancel it.
If you filed a permanent opt-out, opting in is the only way to reverse it. If you filed a five-year opt-out with time remaining, opting in ends it early. The statute says your opt-out election stops being effective on the date you notify the bureaus through the system that you want back in.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
When Offers Will Start Arriving
The legal change is immediate. From the date you submit your opt-in, the bureaus can again include you on prescreened lists.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
The mail takes longer. Lenders and insurers buy their lists weeks or months before launching a campaign, so any list already pulled before you opted in will not include you. Most people see a gradual rise in pre-approved offers over the following weeks, with a steadier flow after roughly 60 days. The lag is not a processing problem. It is the gap between the moment your name becomes available and the next time a company happens to pull a list that catches it.
What Opting In Will Not Do
Opting in only reopens the prescreened-list channel. It does not affect other mail. Solicitations from companies you already do business with, mail from charities or alumni groups, and anything addressed to “occupant” or “resident” travel through separate channels and are unaffected. To stop those, you would need to contact each sender.
Opting in also does not guarantee offers. Companies set their own criteria for who makes their cut, including minimum credit scores, geography, and income ranges. You are making yourself available to be screened. What arrives depends on your credit profile and which lenders and insurers happen to be running campaigns.
Effect On Your Credit Report And Score
Prescreened inquiries are soft inquiries. They appear on your credit report so you can see which companies looked at your file, but they do not affect your credit score.1Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance Only you can see them; a lender pulling your report for a loan application will not see prescreened inquiries either.4Equifax. Hard Inquiry vs Soft Inquiry: Whats the Difference?
Expect the count of soft inquiries on your file to rise once you opt in, since more companies will be screening you. That change is cosmetic and does not move your score. A hard inquiry happens only if you respond to a prescreened offer and formally apply for the product.
Identity Theft Risk To Weigh
Pre-approved credit mailers left in an unlocked mailbox are a known target for identity thieves. The envelope signals that someone at the address has been pre-qualified for credit, and a thief who intercepts one can try to open an account in your name. The Federal Trade Commission has identified stolen prescreened offers as one way identity theft occurs.
Opting in increases the volume of these mailers, so basic precautions matter more once you do. A locking mailbox, prompt mail retrieval, and shredding any offer you do not plan to use all cut the risk. If offers arrive that you did not expect, or if a steady flow suddenly stops, either could point to a fraudulent change-of-address request on your mail.