Got Mail? A Record Six Billion Credit Card Offers Were Mailed Last Year!

Posted On: May 15, 2006

By Rebecca Lindsey, CardRatings.com Senior Reporter

If Americans have noticed an increased volume of credit card offers in their mailboxes recently, they’re not imagining things. Mail Monitor, the direct mail offer tracking service from global market research firm Synovate, announced that over six billion credit card offers were mailed to U.S. citizens in the year 2005.

That’s an increase of 16% from 2004, when ONLY 5.23 billion were mailed! Ten years ago in 1995, a scant 2.7 billion credit card offers were mailed (yes this statement is laced with sarcasm).

“Over the past few years we keep saying ‘this is record mail volume’ but it continues to grow at a high rate,” says Brent Stratford, Vice President of Competitive Tracking Services in the Financial Services Practice at Synovate. He continues,

“This type of mail volume gives consumers more options. The mailbox is where consumers will most likely find ‘test’ offers (new marketing strategies and programs). Credit card users may get an extra perk or pricing structure by examining those offers that come in the mail.”

At the same time of record mailings, the average response rate to direct mail credit card solicitations fell to 0.3%.

Considering that the current population of the United States is just under 300 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a lot of mail is going straight to the shredder.

According to Mail Monitor, the major factor in the increase is American Express. In 2005, the company increased its direct mail credit card solicitation volume by 56% over 2004. This is significant because American Express consistently has the lowest response rate of any major mailer—substantially lower than the 0.3% response rate that the industry averaged in 2005.

Many other card issuers also significantly increased their mailings. For example, regional issuer Columbus Bank and Trust showed a 205% increase in mail volume from 2004 to 2005.

Mail Monitor reports that 58 percent of credit card offers in 2005 included some type of rebate or rewards program. While this gives credit card users greater selection to choose the card that works best for them, many consumers are tired of the surplus credit offers in their mailbox.

Those who are not interested in shopping around for credit cards, or who choose to find credit cards using other methods (such as online comparison shopping at CardRatings.com), can choose to “opt out,” or stop the major credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion, Equifax and Innovis—from selling their name to mailing lists.

While opting out won’t stop financial institutions you do business with from sharing or selling information about you with third parties, it will cut down on the number of pre-approved credit offers that you receive. Consumers can visit OptOutPrescreen.com, or call 888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688). And, who knows, you may save a tree in the process!

We welcome your comments about credit card and other money issues in our popular credit forum!

Rebecca Lindsey is a Senior Reporter for CardRatings.com. She began writing articles about consumer credit issues for CardRatings.com in September 2000. Her articles have been republished and/or referenced by leading publications throughout the country, including “Live Well on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Achieving Your Financial Freedom” by Fred Brock.

CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. CardRatings.com is pleased to offer consumers free credit card ratings.

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