Card Mailings and Response Rates
Continue to Fall

It seems that the high-water mark for direct mail credit card solicitations is behind us. From an all-time peak of 3.45 billion mailings in 1998, card solicitations fell nearly 20% last year to 2.87 billion pieces, according to Mail Monitor, the direct mail tracking service of BAI Global Inc. Credit Card News reported that consumer response rates to direct mail solicitations have continued to drop, from 2.1% in 1990 to 1.4% in 1995 to a mere 1.0% for 1999 (See accompanying chart). Perhaps even more depressing was the downward trend witnessed through the course of the year. Response rates during the first quarter of 1999 started at 1.6%, followed by rates of 0.6%, 0.9%, and 0.7% in the second through fourth quarters. Mail volume steadily declined throughout the year as well, from 832 million pieces in the second quarter to 509 million pieces in the fourth quarter.

A sign of further consolidation in the credit card industry is that the top 10 card issuers sent 88% of total solicitations in 1999, up from 79% in 1998. Standard card offers received higher response rates than platinum mailings, although platinum mailings accounted for nearly 70% of all offers.

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