BIRMINGHAM, Ala. It is getting tougher to win the credit card business of the very top FICO tiers, because card issuers have been stepping up their attention on this consumer segment.
LowCards.com reports that research from Mintel reveals that direct mail credit card offers are on the rise, and the perks they come with continue to be attractive including up-front cash bonuses, airline miles and 0% balance transfer offers. Mintel’s research shows a 22% increase in direct mail credit card offers between 2011 and 2012.
In the second quarter of 2012 alone, there were more than 1.1 billion credit card offers sent through the mail in the U.S., the highest volume since 1.3 billion offers were sent in the fourth quarter of 2011, pointed out LowCards.com CEO Bill Hardekopf. “These offers are coming from all types of credit card issuers, but they are mostly being sent to people with good to excellent credit scores. Financial institutions are still limiting their risk, so they are not making an aggressive push to people who do not have good credit scores. People with average or poor credit still represent too big a financial risk of defaulting on their credit card loans.”
Hardekopf noted that mobile ads for credit cards are getting more common. “But direct mail, apparently, must still be working well for issuers. Credit card marketers are some of the best marketing people, so if it was not working, they would know it.”
