Stop unsolicited Credit Card Offers!
This is a guest article by Seb from Pinching Copper. I highly recommend you check out his blog!
I don’t know about you, but I used to receive at least five unsolicited credit card offers in the mail each and every week. Some days, it would seem like I would get more offers for credit cards than I would legitimate mail. Because of the sensitive information, I would then have to shred the offers to make sure nobody would try and sign up for a card without my approval. But thankfully, I came across a website that effectively stops credit card offers from arriving in my mailbox. It’s like the National Do Not Call Registry for junk mail.
The website is called OptOutPrescreen.com, and it makes signing up to stop receiving credit card offers in the mail easy. Banks will periodically pre-screen your credit to verify if you are eligible for a credit card through them. If you are, odds are you’re well aware of the dozens of 0% APR offers you might get in the mail every month. When you fill out the form on the site, you are effectively telling banks that you do not wish to have your credit pre-screened. Since the banks can’t pre-screen your credit, they can’t verify that you are eligible for any of their offers. As a result, no more junk credit card offers in the mail.
At first, I was a little skeptical about the site. After all, the name and premise don’t exactly sound trustworthy. However, the website is legit and everything is fully explained on the website’s FAQ section. While the site is basic, it is secured by 128bit SSL to protect the information you send. Yes, they do ask you for your social security number, however, they need to be able to verify your identity.
I used the site to opt out about a month ago, and I can happily report that it really does work. I used to consistently get at least one credit card offer in the mail every day. Now I get none. Strangely enough, OptOutPrescreen.com also gives you the option to “opt back in” if you told them you no longer want junk mail. But I doubt many people will be signing up for that option.
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I guess I’m one of the few that actually likes getting those offers. I open every single one. They are interesting to me.
Thanks for posting my article!
Mom, I think you might be alone on that one. I hate credit card junk mail. Not only are they a pain (0% for 6 months! Only 30% thereafter!), but they can also pose a security risk. Someone can easily intercept your mail and open a credit card in your name without your knowledge.