A Little Less Credit Card Junk Mail

What is the number one marketing tactic for credit card companies? Credit card mail offers… otherwise known to you and me as ‘junk mail’. Well, I have good news for you. You are going to receive a lot less junk mail in the coming months.

In general, marketers are beginning to think twice about mail offers. These marketers don’t seem to think that bombarding you with what you term as ‘junk mail’ is worth it. It is projected that credit card companies will be cutting these mail offers by one billion by the end of the year. Home-equity mailings have been the first to be cut. New statistics from the 2008 third quarter give us a glimpse at how drastic these cut backs are.

There was a significant 66 percent decrease in home-equity credit mailings in the third quarter alone. During the same period last year, credit companies sent out 215 million home-equity credit mailings. This year, only 72.9 million were went out. Last year, 324.1 million mortgage mailings were sent out. This year, only 182.4 million were sent (that is 44 percent less than in 2007).

Which institutions are cutting back the most? Charles Schwab and Citibank. Charles Schwab sent out 95 percent fewer credit offers while Citibank cut their mailers by 98 percent. Even Bank of America and HSBC are joining in on the new trend. Bank of America sent out 49 percent fewer unsolicited offers and HSBC sent out 44 percent less.

So, why the change of heart all of a sudden? Credit card companies, mortgage lenders and other institutions have been hit hard by the recent economic collapse. Institutions, such as these, are realizing that people with good credit don’t need and aren’t going to apply for another (or two or three more) credit card(s).

Maybe this financial crisis isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be? Well, maybe not. But, at least you will be getting fewer credit card offers in the mail. That is sure to make this last quarter, or holiday season, one to remember.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Credit Card Offers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.