How Do I Opt Out of Credit Card Offers?

If your mailbox is overflowing with credit card solicitations, these steps can help

Sandra Block,

AARP

Comments

Published April 03, 2026

A mailbox shaped like a credit card overflows with mail

There are steps you can take to help prevent credit card offers from clogging your mailbox.

Pete Ryan

Key takeaways

Prescreened credit card offers may offer benefits you won’t find elsewhere, but there are drawbacks.
High interest rates, fees and missed payments can offset rewards and sign-up perks.
You can opt out of most mail credit card offers.

If you have reasonably good credit, you’ve probably received letters that breathlessly announce you’ve been preapproved for a new credit card — with no shortage of exclamation points. These offers often dangle incentives to encourage you to sign up, as well as perks like cash back on specific spending categories, travel points or other rewards.

Credit card issuers use information from consumers’ credit reports, such as their borrowing and payment history, to target potential customers who meet their credit qualifications. You are required to honor the terms of a preapproved credit card if you accept, unless a review of your credit report and credit score determines that you actually don’t meet their criteria. In that case, they’re required to tell you why you were denied.

Some of these prescreened credit card solicitations may offer benefits you won’t find elsewhere, but there are drawbacks. The perks could compel you to take out more credit than you can afford to repay. Many mail credit cards are rewards cards and, as a result, carry high interest rates — meaning if you miss a payment, the interest could easily wipe out any sign-up bonuses you earned. And, if you’re unable to pay the minimum balance each month, you could get hit with late payment penalties and receive black marks on your credit report that drag down your credit score.

In addition, if these offers fall into the wrong hands — which could happen if someone intercepts your mail — identity thieves might be able to open a credit card in your name or use the personal information contained in the letters for other nefarious purposes.

How to stop the offers

There are steps you can take to help prevent credit card offers from clogging your mailbox. The three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — offer an opt-out service available online or by phone at 888-567-8688. You’ll have the option to opt out for five years or permanently. If you choose the latter, you’ll need to download a form and mail it in. If you change your mind, you can use the website to opt back in.

To opt out, you’ll need to provide personal information, including your Social Security number and date of birth. The information is confidential and can only be used to opt out of preapproved offers, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

You may continue to get credit card offers by mail for several weeks from issuers that reviewed your credit record before your request is processed. You may also receive offers from credit card issuers and other businesses that obtained your information from other sources, such as mailing lists purchased from companies you’ve done business with.

How to cut down on other marketing mail, too

Notably, this exercise won’t curtail mail from charities, local retailers, alumni associations and other businesses that acquire your mailing address. To reduce those kinds of solicitations, go to DMAchoice.org, the website for the Association of National Advertisers, and select which catalogs, magazine offers and other promotional mail you want to receive, if any.

Promotional offers and your credit score

Worried your credit score suffered because you received dozens of prescreened credit card offers? Don’t be.

When a credit card issuer reviews your credit report to determine your eligibility for promotional offers, it’s known as a “soft pull” or “soft inquiry,” which lenders disregard when reviewing your credit history. Soft inquiries also don’t affect your credit score.

In comparison, a “hard pull” or “hard inquiry” occurs when you grant a lender permission to review your credit report, usually because you’ve applied for a credit card, car loan or other form of credit. While one hard inquiry will lower your score only by a few points, applying for several credit cards over a short period of time can have a significant impact on your score, because lenders see multiple hard inquiries as a sign that you’re a credit risk.

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

%{postComment}%

Sandra Block has covered personal finance for more than two decades. She was a senior editor at Kiplinger Personal Finance and a reporter for USA TODAY. She is the coauthor of The Busy Family’s Guide to Money and Easy Ways to Lower Your Taxes: Simple Strategies Every Taxpayer Should Know.