How to Reduce Marketing Offers from Bank of America Companies
Is your mailbox bulging with “pre-approved” credit card offers? Have you received calls from telemarketers hawking low interest home loans? Maybe you’ve received unsolicited insurance quotes over e-mail. Where are these offers coming from? If you’ve got an account with Bank of America, you need look no further for the culprit.
Bank of America recently sent out a notice to its account holders. It contains instructions for limiting unsolicited marketing from Bank of America companies. With just a few simple steps, customers can drastically reduce the amount of marketing they receive via mail, telephone, and the Internet.
First, call 1-800-282-2884. You’ll be connected to an agent who will ask for your account number and some personally identifying information. Once you’ve verified that you are the account holder, you will be asked to supply the phone numbers, addresses, and e-mail addresses that you wish to remove from their marketing lists.
The limited marketing will take effect on October 1st, 2008. Every point of contact that you remove will stop receiving marketing promotions for five years. When this period nears an end, Bank of America will send out a notification so that customers can opt to limit their marketing for a further five years.
Note that this doesn’t stop direct marketing offers from businesses you hold an account with. To stop receiving offers from Bank of America credit cards, call the number on the back of your card and ask to opt out of all promotional letters, balance transfer offers, and pre-screened credit card marketing.
Banks and credit card companies are notorious for sharing your personal information with their affiliate companies. When your financial records and credit score get passed around, you’ll start receiving letters and calls urging you to accept credit cards you’ve already been approved for.
But these phone calls and mailings are misleading. You cannot be pre-approved for a card you didn’t apply for. The truth is that these companies obtained your personal information and, based on what they saw, decided to offer you a credit card. Some offers even contain actual cards that can be activated with a simple phone call. This can lead to big problems if someone steals your mail. (Identity theft, anyone?)
To learn more about Bank of America’s privacy policy and marketing practices, go to the Bank of America web site. You can also opt out of pre-screened credit offers by entering your information at OptOutPrescreen.com.
You can thank the Federal Reserve for laying down rules and forcing banks to comply – rules that include telling customers about their right to refuse marketing offers from Bank of America affiliates. Hopefully other banks will follow suit, and our inboxes and mailboxes will once again have room for messages we actually want.
