U.S. credit card mailer sent 180 million direct mail solicitations to consumers during October. According to Mintel Comperemedia, which tracks card issuer mail volume, this is the highest per-month total seen since December 2008.
Mintel also indicate it was the first “significant” increase in mail volume during 2009.
The 180 million mailings mark a 34% increase from the 134 million pieces sent during September, Mintel added. This makes it the highest month-over-month volume increase since February 2004.
The two highest-volume mailers were Chase and American Express, with Chase doubling its September mail volume and American Express adding 40% more solicitations, according to Mintel.
“Credit card mail volume is still down significantly from a year ago, but October’s sharp increase is an excellent sign for the industry,” Andrew Davidson, SVP of Mintel Comperemedia said in a statement.
Davidson continued “With recent green shoots of economic recovery, card issuers feel more confident about the future. I anticipate that this winter will mark the start of a turnaround in credit card direct marketing that will be sustained through 2010. This could very well be the beginning of the end for credit card direct mail declines.
“This is significant because direct mail rebounded from the 2001 recession in early 2004. Then of course, we saw mail volume reach unprecedented peaks in 2005/2006.”
According to Davidson, card issuers may be holding back their mail promotions pending the implementation of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act. “Once these issuers establish their marketing strategies, I expect they’ll return to the mailbox. This will help drive increases in credit card direct mail next year.”
The Cynic’s Take: Davidson’s opinion – that this is the beginning of a turnaround – is a curious one. Credit card mailings may be up in anticipation of more restrictive lending practices the issuers face, but this is likely because they want to sign consumers to contracts before these restrictions go into effect (in February – an effort to move the date up to December passed the U.S. House but was bottled up in the Senate last week). Post-restriction customers simply won’t be as lucrative for the issuers. My bet? Absent the higher incentives to sign up customers, such as the ability to jack rates, credit card mailings will decline during the first part of 2010. Will they rebound when, as Davdison says they “establish their marketing strategies”? Perhaps, but count on them making hay now, and pulling in while they attempt to mitigate the effects of the CARD Act through lobbying.
