topic Re: Opt out vs. freeze in Credit Cards

Opt out vs. freeze

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:12:14 GMT

What is the difference in the opt out vs. freeze? If ice a bureau what exactly happens?

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:17:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
What is the difference in the opt out vs. freeze? If ice a bureau what exactly happens?

Freezing stops 1 credit bureau at a time from pre-screened offers. It also stops inquiries from that particular bureau...nobody is able to pull that credit report without your PIN although you should still be able to request your own credit report.

OptOut stops 'em all from pre-screened offers; but does not affect the ability to pull credit or add more inquiries to your file.

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

kdm31091 — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:18:40 GMT

Opting out simply means you won't recieve prequals. The bureaus can be pulled with no problem though, and doesn't affect apping.

Freezing means the bureau is locked up and can't be pulled when you app for credit. This can be done to reduce "impulse apping". However, if the card you want happens to require a certain pull, you'll be auto declined if the bureau is frozen. Personally, I find it easy enough to control apping on my own without cumbersome freezing of bureaus, but for some it can really be a good thing.

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:21:42 GMT

Adding to the above if you freeze any report you will then be automatically opted out of any pre-qual offers. Which is a bit annoying but you can opt-in again manually.

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:22:17 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
Opting out simply means you won't recieve prequals. The bureaus can be pulled with no problem though, and doesn't affect apping.

Freezing means the bureau is locked up and can't be pulled when you app for credit. This can be done to reduce "impulse apping". However, if the card you want happens to require a certain pull, you'll be auto declined if the bureau is frozen. Personally, I find it easy enough to control apping on my own without cumbersome freezing of bureaus, but for some it can really be a good thing.

See, that's one thing i'll admit you have better control of. I'll blow through a spend bonus and want to do another app for another juicy bonus.

Hence, I keep my reports iced. If I DO apply, I know i'll have to go through manual review if I decide to provide a pin. None of my reports will stand up to a hardcore inquisition right now.

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:38:17 GMT

Nixon- You iced ALL 3?

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:41:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Nixon- You iced ALL 3?

IDA

ARS

Innovis

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 16:26:29 GMT

In the good 'ol days, 1 was enough.

I'm still good with 2 freezers instead of 3 (or 6)

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

joedtx — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 17:02:21 GMT

In the old days all you had to do was send a letter to Karen @ TRW and she'd pull your card out of the Rolodex and it was done. None of this fancy high tech phone call or faxing or the like

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

bada_bing — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 17:37:02 GMT

Opting out stops promotional screening SP's. It does not stop SP's for a permissable purpose.

You opt out globally - one opt out applies to all three credit bureaus. This is done primarily to

reduce junk offers and it works pretty well for that purpose. Opting out does nothing to stop

a person from applying for new accounts.

Credit Freeze stops HP's and prevents new applications that require a HP from going through.

It does not stop SP's for promotional screening nor for other permissable purpose. You will

still receive some junk mail offers with a freeze in place, although the fact that your account has

a freeze in place can be seen on a SP and may reduce some of the junk mail . Some credit

monitoring services have difficulty pulling reports with a freeze in place (*cough*MyFico*cough*),

but the problem is entirely with the report service. CreditKarma has always been able to S-pull

with a freeze and CreditSesame recently resolved their issues. Freezing can be done for several

reasons: securing reports against identity theft; controlling HP happy salespeople when shopping

cars, mortgages, etc.; providing some self discipline against card apps by providing an additional

hurdle to applying.

I have been both frozen and opted out for over a year and am happy with both in place. I recommend it

to anyone because I feel more secure with a freeze in place and I don't need junk offers to figure out

what the best credit products are for my situation.

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

JSS3 — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 17:45:08 GMT

In my state(PA) it's $10 to freeze each bureau(unless you're a victim of identity theft).

I don't believe there's a fee for opting out.

Re: Opt out vs. freeze

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 17:46:54 GMT

@JSS3 wrote:
In my state(PA) it's $10 to freeze each bureau(unless you're a victim of identity theft).

I don't believe there's a fee for opting out.

Same in TX.

Costs me money to freeze or thaw for x amount of time.