How to Opt Out of Prescreened Credit Card Offers

To stop preapproved credit card offers from filling your mailbox, register at OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688. That single request removes your name from the marketing lists the four major credit bureaus sell to card issuers, and you can choose to be off those lists for five years or permanently. The service is free, and it does not affect your credit score or your ability to apply for a card on your own.¹

Where Prescreened Offers Come From

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a card issuer can ask Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, or Innovis for a list of consumers whose credit profiles meet its criteria, such as a minimum credit score or a clean payment history. The issuer then mails an offer to everyone on that list, without you ever having asked to hear from them. The same statute that permits the practice gives you the right to be excluded from those lists.² OptOutPrescreen is the joint website the four bureaus set up to accept those requests.

How the Opt-Out Works

You can start online or by phone. Either channel asks for your full legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, and current mailing address. The Social Security number matches you to the correct credit file, and the site encrypts what you submit.³

You then pick one of two options:

A five-year opt-out finishes entirely online or by phone. Once you submit, your name comes off prescreened lists for five years. Nothing else is required.
A permanent opt-out starts the same way but has one extra step. The system generates a Permanent Opt-Out Election form. You print it, sign it, and mail it to the address printed on the form. Your request is not complete until the signed form is received.¹

If you change your mind later, the same website and phone line will opt you back in.¹

Opting Out Does Not Touch Your Credit

Removing yourself from prescreened lists has no impact on your credit score or your credit history. You can still shop for cards, apply for loans, and receive offers from any company you contact yourself. All the opt-out stops is the bureaus including your name on the marketing lists they sell to issuers who have not heard from you.

How Long Before Offers Actually Stop

Your opt-out is processed within five days, but expect several weeks before your mailbox goes quiet. Issuers prepare their mailings well in advance, so letters already in the pipeline will still arrive.¹

A five-year opt-out expires automatically after 60 months. The bureaus are not required to warn you when it lapses, so if you picked that option, put a reminder on your calendar for renewal. A permanent opt-out stays in effect indefinitely unless you choose to opt back in.¹

If You Move

The opt-out is tied to the personal information you registered with, so a new address may not be covered by an earlier request. Submit a fresh opt-out with your updated address, and include your previous address if the move happened within the last six months, to keep protection continuous.³

What OptOutPrescreen Will Not Stop

The opt-out only blocks prescreened offers pulled from your credit file. Two categories of mail keep coming.

First, any bank, card issuer, or insurer you already do business with can still market to you. Federal affiliate-marketing rules also let a company share information about you with its corporate affiliates for marketing, as long as it gives you notice and a way to opt out.⁴ Watch for the privacy notice your bank or card issuer sends each year. It normally lists a phone number or form you can use to limit affiliate sharing and third-party marketing.

Second, catalogs, magazine pitches, and other promotional mail that do not draw from your credit file come from general marketing lists, not from the bureaus. OptOutPrescreen does nothing to those, and you would need a separate mail-preference service to reduce them.

Stopping Offers to a Deceased Relative

Preapproved offers addressed to someone who has died are common, and they can create a real identity theft risk. Contact each of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, to report the death. You will 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 register the deceased person’s name directly with OptOutPrescreen by calling 1-888-567-8688.

If the Offers Keep Coming

If prescreened offers continue arriving well past the several-week window, start by filing 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.⁵

A company that willfully ignores your opt-out rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act can be liable for statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation, even if you cannot show financial harm. A court may also award punitive damages and order the company to pay your attorney’s fees.⁶

1
Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports – Section: Election of Consumer To Be Excluded From Lists
3
OptOutPrescreen.com. OptOutPrescreen.com Information
4
eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1022 Fair Credit Reporting Regulation V
5
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681n Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance