I stopped most of my junk mail and catalogs several months ago. If you did the same, then you’ve probably seen a significant drop in your junk mail. Some days we don’t get any mail, and my husband hasn’t even registered yet! This week I took the bold step of stopping the last of the junk mail I receive: credit card offers from my own banks.
Why I Stopped the Offers
Once my junk mail stopped, I realized just how many offers I received from own banks and credit card issuers every week. It was simply ridiculous, and frankly, I was tired of buying new shredders every couple of years. These offers are also a prime source of identity theft. Thieves steal them right out of your mailbox and change the address so you don’t know about the card until it shows up on your credit report.
Last Friday I received not one, but two sets of convenience checks and an offer for a personal loan. That was it. I didn’t want any of more this junk in my mailbox. So, I girded my loins in preparation for battle with my current credit card issuers.
Six Steps to Stop Credit Card Offers
It turned out the girding was completely unnecessary. The people I spoke to were very pleasant and didn’t argue with me at all. If you want to stop your credit card offers, here’s all you have to do:
1. Register with the DMA to stop your junk mail.
2. Take your credit cards out of your wallet (or wherever else you keep them.)
3. From a landline phone, call the toll-free number on the back of the first card.
4. Push the buttons to get to customer service.
5. Tell them you want to opt out of convenience checks and all other offers they send you.
6. Repeat with the next credit card.
One of the reps reviewed her entire checklist with me on the phone and opted me out of emails and phone calls, too. Each one did offer me a new card or a balance transfer, but accepted my “no” right away.
They also said it would take about seven days to get me off all their mailing lists, which is pretty darn quick. It’s been a week now and I’ve only received one offer in the last seven days.
Unfortunately, you do have to call to make the request. None of the websites offered the ability to set my mail preferences for offers.
I had three cards to call, so the process took me about ten minutes. You don’t usually have to worry about store cards. I didn’t call American Express because I don’t recall receiving offers from them. I may have to call the airlines where I have frequent flyer accounts, but I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know if I end up calling them.
I can’t tell you how nice it is to open an empty mailbox these days! It feels a lot like freedom.