Credit Card Direct Mail Rises 34% in October
Credit card issuers sent out 180 million credit card offers to U.S. consumers last month, a 34% increase from the month before and had the highest monthly total since last December and the largest increase this year, according to Mintel Comperemedia.
“Credit card mail volume is still down significantly from a year ago, but October’s sharp increase is an excellent sign for the industry,” said Andrew Davidson, senior vice president, in a statement. “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 past month, Chase and American Express sent the most credit card offers. Each issuer had its most active mail month this year, as Chase more than doubled mail volume from Sept. 2009 and American Express sent nearly 40% more offers. US Bank and HSBC (October’s seventh and eighth top mailers, respectively) likewise had their greatest mail months of 2009 to date, according to Mintel.
