GREENVILLE, S.C. -- If you're tired of all those credit card offers that come in the mail, there's always been an option to opt out of receiving them.

But up to this point, the option has been hidden in the fine print.

A new Federal Trade Commission rule went into effect this month, requiring credit card issuers to make the option more visible.

From this point on, every preapproved offer that shows up in your mailbox will include, in bold type on the first page, information on how to put a stop to those offers.

According to one research group, more than 1 billion credit-card offers flood mailboxes each year, reported Greenville TV station WYFF.

"Credit card companies know ahead of time that they're only going to get one, two or three responses out of every 100 that they send," said Greg Burgess, a credit counselor with Compass of Carolina. "So consequently, they send out millions, if not billions, and that generates a lot of business in the long run."

But for nearly 10 years, consumers have had the option to opt out by mail. Now, they have two more methods available to them -- by calling (888) 5-OPTOUT, or by visiting OptOutPrescreen.com.

The Web site was developed by the consumer credit reporting companies, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion.

For more information, including how to opt out of telemarketing, sweepstakes and other mailed offers, visit here.