After predicting an upswing in card mailings as issuers worked to comply with the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (
Issuers mailed 575 million card solicitations during the fourth quarter of 2009, up 47.1% from 391 million the previous quarter, according to the Chicago-based direct mail tracking firm. However, the total still is down 35.5% from 891 million mailings during the fourth quarter of 2008, a reduction Mintel attributes both to the poor economy and to the CARD Act. For 2009, issuers mailed 1.8 billion card solicitations, down 66.7% from 5.4 billion in 2008.
The increase in mailings from the third quarter is a good sign for the economy, Andrew Davidson, Mintel senior vice president, tells PaymentsSource. “The numbers are significantly lower than a year ago, but that is due to the suppression from the CARD Act,” he says, noting mailings will keep growing as issuers gear up to launch new products and products with new terms designed to generate revenue under CARD Act constraints.
In particular, Mintel has seen a rise in card offers with annual fees and higher annual percentage rates. In 2009, 36% of credit card offers featured an annual fee, up from 20% that did the previous year, says Davidson. Despite a low prime rate, the average purchase interest rate on variable-rate card offers mailed during the fourth quarter was 13.95%, up from 1l.8% a year earlier.
Some major issuers boosted their direct mailings substantially, Mintel reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its mailings by 87% from the fourth quarter of 2008, while U.S. Bancorp mailings were up 64%. Mintel did not provide exact numbers.
