Credit Card Mailing Drop Slows

The 349.1 million credit card solicitations mailed during second quarter 2009 represent a 67% drop from second quarter 2008, when 1.06 billion were sent out.

But that figure is only 6% below the 372.4 million offerings sent out in first quarter 2009, according to Mail Monitor, a credit card acquisition and response rate tracking services from Synovate.

“We are seeing mailed credit card offers bottoming out and anticipate that there will be an uptick next year,” said Anuj Shahani, director of competitive tracking services for Synovate’s financial services group, in a statement.

According to Synovate, a number of the top 25 card mailers ramped up their mail volumes in Q2 2009. The biggest increases were seen by Bank of America (up 77% over first quarter 2009) and Citibank (up 65% over first quarter 2009).

Shahani added, “Apart from those issuers that increased their mail volumes this quarter, we are seeing almost all issuers either mail somewhat less or somewhat higher, albeit from extremely depressed levels. This is giving credence to the now universal mantra: Less bad is the new good.

“Issuers are no longer as risk averse. While the economy starts getting back on its feet, issuers are getting creative and tweaking their product mixes to adapt to the new regulated environment,” he said. “We saw certain types of card offers resurface this past quarter, showing that issuers are starting those jammed credit engines once again,” he added.

Every single offer mailed during Q2 2009 had a variable APR associated with it, compared to 60% of the offers in Q2 2008, according to Synovate.

“Issuers are capitalizing on the lowest levels in the prime rate and have locked in an average of more than 8% of every dollar in new debt that they can attract on their credit card. This huge margin may be instrumental in causing the issuers to push the credit gas pedal again,” said Shahani.

The Historian’s Take: Here are a few numbers Synovate didn’t provide in its current statement: First-quarter 2008’s credit card mail level was 1.13 billion, meaning that, just like second-quarter 2009, first-quarter 2009’s level was 67% below the previous year’s level. It also means that the drop between first-quarter 2008 and second quarter 2008 was a little more than 6% — or just about the number Synovate is touting as “not bottoming out as fast.” A cynic might say this is merely a cyclical drop…