Guide
Short answer: reply with exactly the word the text names (STOP is safest), or use the key-press option on a robocall. From November 25, 2026, a company can make that its only accepted way to opt out, and a STOP to one type of alert may not stop the others.
The Federal Communications Commission adopted a new order on robocall and robotext opt-outs (FCC 26-67) on September 30, 2026. It was published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2026 with the line "Effective November 25, 2026." It covers the automated calls and texts that need your consent: autodialed or prerecorded calls and automated texts to your phone, such as payment reminders, delivery and appointment alerts, bank notices and marketing texts. Ordinary calls from a person aren't covered.
Two things change for you:
Until November 25 (the rule in effect since April 2025), you can revoke consent "by using any reasonable method to clearly express a desire not to receive further calls or text messages." A reply in your own words must count "if a reasonable person would understand those words to have conveyed a request to revoke consent," a voicemail or email to the company creates a presumption that you opted out, and callers "may not designate an exclusive means to request revocation of consent."
From November 25, if a company has named an exclusive method, only that method has to be honored. A text like "please take me off your list," an email to customer service, or telling a phone agent may no longer legally count. Companies that don't name an exclusive method must keep accepting any reasonable request.
The seven reply words that always count for texts are STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE. A company has to disclose its chosen method "clearly and conspicuously" on the call or in each text. A text only needs to mention one of the seven words, but the sender must still honor all seven.
A STOP to a telemarketing or advertising message still revokes consent to all future marketing robocalls and texts from that caller. The category-by-category rule applies to informational messages such as payment reminders, delivery alerts and appointment reminders. The FCC's own example is a consumer who stops payment reminders but still wants fraud alerts.
Under the FCC's exemption for fraud and security alerts, banks could send these to a cell number only if it was "provided by the customer." From November 25 they can also use a wireless number "obtained from a reliable source": one supplied by a spouse or family member authorized on the account, captured when you call the bank, or in records from another financial institution. You can still opt out of those messages, and the exemption's limits on how many calls and texts can be sent still apply.
A 2024 FCC rule that would have made one opt-out cover everything from a sender never took effect; it was put on hold by waiver, most recently until January 31, 2027, according to Nixon Peabody. The new order replaces it.
In a companion proposal (FR Doc. 2026-21820, also published October 26), the FCC asks whether to shorten the ten-business-day deadline (it floats seven), require two-way texting, require a one-step "revoke all" option, and how opt-outs should apply to a company's affiliates. Comments are due November 25, 2026, and replies December 28, 2026, in CG Docket No. 02-278.
The FCC's guide How to comment on FCC proceedings covers anything not listed here. For the exact rule text, read the Federal Register notice.
Written from the sources above and our own dated snapshots. Things change: always check the official page before you act. This guide is not legal advice. Spotted an error? Contact & corrections · About
From Nov 25, a company can name the only way you're allowed to stop its robocalls and texts, and replying STOP to one kind of alert may not stop the others.