How to Never Receive another Unwanted Credit Card Offer Again
I used to have a room-mate that never threw away his mail. He would just let pile up, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to have 50 pieces of mail on the table at a time. My room-mate also had quite a few different debts, and he always paid them on time, so his credit score was quite good. This meant that a lot of companies were more than happy to offer him a credit card, auto-mobile financing, personal loans, and just about any form of debt one could think of. By the time I moved out, It wasn’t uncommon to see 3 or 4 credit card offers in the mail everyday. He was somewhat lazy, so he just let the offers pile up and never did anything with them. Fortunately there’s now away for you to never have to get another unwanted credit card offer or other offer for debt again.
Thanks to federal law, all of the major credit bureaus in the United States have to offer a way so that consumers can remove their names from the marketing lists that Equifax, Transunion, and Experian sell to third parties. Since your information isn’t being sold to banks, credit card companies, and other people pitching you debt, you’re much less likely to get a credit card offer in the mail. It won’t stop your bank, credit union, brokerage house, or insurance company from selling your information. You’ll have to visit each of your financial institution’s websites and check out their privacy policy to see what they do with your information and how you can opt out of your information being sold to accomplish that. Opting out of the credit bureaus will however get rid of the vast majority (around 90%) of the credit card offers that come in the mail.
The process to get your personal information permanently removed from these mailing lists is fairly simple. The three major credit bureaus have created a phone number that you can call and remove your personal information from all the mailing list of Equifax, Transunion, and Experian By making a call to 1-888-5-OPT-OUT, you’ll be able to get off all three companies marketing lists.
If you’re more web savvy, you can accomplish the same task by visiting the website OptOutPreScreen.com. Don’t visit any other sites which claim they will remove your name from such lists, as they are likely phishing sites that are trying to steal your identity. OptOptPreScreen.com was established by Equifax, Transunion and Experian to get your name removed from those marketing lists.
There’s no reason to keep getting credit card offers in the mail. If someone were to steal one from you, they could quite easily open a card in your name, making you a victim of identity theft. If you do ever want to open another credit card, you can just compare offers online and apply that way.
Regardless of your current Credit Score, if you choose to have a Credit Card, be sure to do your due diligence. Compare Credit Card Offers and read the Credit Card Company’s policies for Annual Fees and high interest rates.
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