Financial Institution Offers Opt-Out
What are Financial Institution Offers?
Financial institution offers are unsolicited offers from banks, credit card companies, brokerage firms, insurance companies, etc.
How to opt-out
If you opt-out, you limit the extent to which a financial institution can provide your personal financial information to non-affiliates. If you do not opt-out, the assumption is that the financial institution can share your data in some circumstances. A non-affiliate is generally defined as a company that is unrelated to your financial company. There is a great degree of variability between financial institutions. Some do not share customer information with non-affiliates, so they do not offer an opt-out. Some take an extra step and offer customers the ability to opt-out of both unaffiliated and affiliated marketing.
Because the types of available opt-outs vary from institution to institution, you will need to read the privacy notice closely. Financial institutions are required to provide privacy notices. These notices can sometimes be difficult to understand. The opt-outs are controlled in part by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, a federal law that provides some privacy protections for customers of financial institutions. You may have received a privacy notice in the mail from your bank or other financial institution, if not ask for a copy. The privacy notice may also be posted on the financial institution’s web site. Read the notice closely, and follow the company's directions for opting out. You can opt-out at any time. By law, you are required to opt-out in the way the financial institution determines you should, whether by letter or phone or online.
To opt-out: check with an office of the institution you deal with or visit its web site.
For more about financial institution opt-outs: FDIC: Your Rights To Financial Privacy page, FTC: Privacy Choices for your Personal Financial Information, FDIC: Privacy Choices page, FDIC: Financial Privacy FAQ, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: How to Read opt-out Notices page.