NEW YORK-Need another sign of the economy's doldrums during 2008? U.S. households have seen a 20% reduction in credit card solicitations during 2008, according to a study from Mail Monitor, the credit card direct mail tracking service that is a unit of Synovate.
But even with that 20% reduction card solicitations continue to stuff mailboxes, with some 4.2 billion offers for new credit cards being sent this year. That's down from 5.2 billion in 2007, according to Mail Monitor.
Households with incomes under $50,000 will receive about 700,000 fewer offers in 2008 compared to 2007. These households account for the majority of the cutback and clearly indicate a major change in strategy by card issuers, the firm said.
"Card issuers are taking a more cautious approach, with lower income and high risk households receiving fewer offers or no offers at all," said Synovate VP Andrew Davidson.
Despite the decline in offers for new cards, U.S. consumers still have access to an increasing amount of credit. Household credit lines across all cards edged up to an average of $27,626 per household (YTD 3Q 2008) from $26,902 in 2007 despite evidence that issuers are cutting credit lines on certain customers, the company found.
Average balances and monthly new charges also continue to increase. Among households that carry a card balance, the average balance is up to $7,539 per household (YTD 3Q 2008) versus $7,008 in 2007. Monthly new charges are up to $1,533 from $1,402 over the same time period, Mail Monitor said.
