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Major U.S. credit card issuers sent consumers 17% fewer offers by direct mail during the second quarter compared with the same period last year, according to the latest issue of Synovate Mail Monitor. The quarterly report by Synovate, a Chicago-based market-research division of London-based Aegis Group Plc., says the eight credit card issuers it tracks sent 1.06 billion direct-mail offers to U.S. households during the quarter compared with 1.27 billion during the same period in 2007. HSBC Finance Corp. decreased its direct mailing by 54%, the most-dramatic decrease among the issuers Synovate tracks. Citibank scaled back its direct mailing by 45%, Discover Financial Services by 33%, JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 9%, Bank of America Corp. by 3% and American Express Co. by 1%, Synovate reports. Capital One Financial Corp., meanwhile, increased its direct-mail offers by 9%, and Washington Mutual Inc. increased mailings by 7%, according to Synovate. "Issuers that target subprime customers and those exposed by the mortgage meltdown continue to drive the decline," writes Andrew Davidson, vice president of competitive tracking services for Synovate's Financial Services Group. He says 52% of households with incomes of less than $50,000 per year received an offer during the second quarter, down from 66% that did last year.
