Report: Fewer credit card offers fill mailboxes

The constant stream of pesky credit card offers sent to American consumers' mailboxes has slowed to a trickle, according to a study by a leading market research company.

The report, released by Mintel Comperemedia, found that the number of credit card offers has dropped to its lowest point in more than three years. It's a steady downturn that's taken place since late 2006.

In the third quarter of this year, estimated mail volume plunged 13 percent from the quarter before and dropped 28 percent from one year earlier, the study said. In 2005 and 2006, Mintel tracked an average of more than 2 billion offers quarterly. That number now stands at about 1.3 billion.

Lisa Hronek, senior credit card analyst at Mintel, said that credit card companies have been cutting back on mail offers for years. The reason, she said, is that companies were realizing that inundating people with direct mail offers wasn't translating to jumps in card holder numbers.

"But now, they're facing a two-fold problem that is much worse," she said. "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."

The news of the reduction in direct mail offers sits just fine with many Valley residents.

Leslie Kyman Cooper, executive director with the Arizona Consumers Council, said she has seen a "tremendous decline" in the number of offers. And that's a good thing. "I hope they continue to reduce the number of solicitations they send out," she said. "Too often people were taking on credit they couldn't sustain and they were ending up in a worse position than they were previously in."

This problem, she said, is a contributing factor to the economic crisis the nation faces.

In addition, the offers were just flat-out bothersome, she said. She was so tired of receiving them that she signed up on the Direct Market Association's Web site to remove her name and address from the mailing lists.

Mintel's Hronek expects credit card companies to continue cutting down on mailing offers through the holiday season and even into next year.

But the companies won't give up the tactic just yet, she said.

"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.

TOP ISSUERS

During the third quarter, Mintel reports that the top 10 mailing credit card issuers for acquisition direct mail 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

*Now owned by Chase