Behavioral Analysis Inc. said a record 2.7 billion credit card offers hit the mail in 1995 and that the consumer response rate dropped to a low of 1.4%.
The research firm said new cardholders are more likely to revolve balances, have higher levels of new charges, and are nearly four times as likely as long-term customers to transfer balances.
Robert Skolnick, executive vice president of BAI, said the company noticed three trends last year:
*Consumers responded more to low rates than to card fees.
*Household response rates were unaffected by the number of offers received. Historically, BAI said, the more offers cardholders got, the lower their response rates.
*In the fourth quarter, pre-approved offers with a specific credit line generated a higher response rate than pre-approved (and not pre-approved) offers without one.