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Credit Card Offers Fall Sharply

Financial crisis prompts cutbacks for mail solicitations

November 12, 2008

• Credit Tips And Tricks • Get Control of What You Owe • No Easy Way Out Of Credit Card Debt • Penalty Fees, Interest Rate Hikes, and Misleading Contracts Await Credit Card Shoppers • "Convenience Checks" Carry a Heavy Price Tag • Understanding Credit • Credit Bureaus: Who You're Dealing With • Reading Your Credit Report • Credit Scoring: The Fickleness of FICO • Credit Knowledge: A Long, Hard, Struggle --- News • New Credit Card Rules Take Effect February 22 • Credit Card Direct Mail Back on the Rise • FTC Urged To Place Tighter Controls On 'Free' Credit Reports • Attorneys General Warn of 'Free' Credit Report Confusion • Retailers: Hidden Credit Card Fees Cost Jobs • Interchange Fees Fleecing Consumers, Retailers Say • Minnesota Sues Clinic For Credit Card Fraud • Retailers Applaud GAO Report On Interchange Fees • Schumer Moves to Clean Up Credit Reporting Ads --- • More about credit cards

There's at least one positive aspect of the credit crisis. There are probably fewer credit card solicitations in your mailbox.

Mintel Comperemedia, a supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence, says its analysis of card direct mail trends found that the total estimated volume for credit card acquisition offers reached only 1.34 billion during the third quarter of this year, a good sign that the credit crunch is far from over.

Credit card acquisition mail volume has declined steadily since late 2006, according to Mintel. The third quarter's estimated mail volume of 1.34 billion represents a 13 percent decline from the quarter before and a 28 percent drop from a year earlier.

In 2005 and 2006, Mintel tracked an average of 2.07 billion credit card acquisition offers quarterly.

As the financial mess and credit crunch worsened during this year's third quarter, card issuers scaled back mailings at an increasing rate, notes Lisa Hronek, senior credit card analyst at Mintel. But declines in credit card acquisition mail volume started long before that.

"Credit card companies have been cutting back direct mail dollars for years, as they realize that blanketing Americans with credit card offers doesn't translate to increased sign up or card usage," Hronek said. "But now, they're facing a two-fold problem that is much worse. Not only are consumers tapped out financially, but issuers are also facing record losses. They're scaling back direct mail to cope with unprecedented financial problems."

Hronek expects credit card companies to continue reducing acquisition direct mail throughout the Christmas shopping season and into 2009.

"Card issuers will focus on a narrower target audience, using refined marketing and more precise mailings to tap into people's true needs and desires" she said.

Mintel Comperemedia reports that the top 10 mailing credit card issuers for acquisition direct mail during the third quarter of 2008 were:

1. Chase

2. Capital One Bank

3. American Express

4. Washington Mutual

5. Bank of America

6. Citibank

7. Barclays Bank

8. Discover

9. HSBC

10. U.S. Bank

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