Stop the credit offer deluge

My antipathy toward credit card companies is well known. One of the banks' more annoying tactics (although not necessarily their most insidious one) is the omnipresent pre-approved credit offer. I've been a student most of my life, and have made many very stupid decisions when it comes to my finances on top of that. Now I am a pastor (on a pastor's income), paying back my heaps of student loans. Take all this into consideration, and I am not what I consider a good credit risk at this point - not by any stretch of the imagination.

And yet the offers keep coming. I'm never going to send in those stupid forms - I don't want their credit, might not qualify for their credit, and would take the time to research my options online and choose the best card with the least impositions if I wanted a card, anyway. The fat envelopes clog my PO box and waste my time. The only thing they're good for is leaving a marvelous paper trail for a would-be identity thief.

That's why I've chosen to permanently opt out of pre-screened credit offers. By filling out two very short forms, I've guaranteed that no more of these odious things will arrive in my mail.

There are much better ways to get the credit you need - if you really need it - than by jumping at a bulk-mailed offer in your PO. Those offers cater to impulse and manipulation, rather than careful, reasoned financial decisions. There is no upside to consumers to receiving them, and a world of possible hurt from not cutting them off. I'd encourage everyone who reads this blog to do yourself a favor, and use the link above to remove yourself from the credit marketers' databases for five years - or forever. I sincerely doubt you'll ever miss those "YOU'RE APPROVED!" envelopes.