CardTrak - Tracking Payment Payment Cards for the U.S. Consumer Since 1986

Response rates to direct mail credit card offers slipped to a new low last year as the volume of solicitations climbed to a new high. For 2005, Americans received 6.06 billion credit offers in the mail as the response rate hit 0.3%. The percentage of U.S. households receiving an offer each month increased above the 71% reported for 2004. According to Synovate's "Mail Monitor," household penetration peaked at 79% in 2001 when issuers extended their offerings to less credit-worthy or sub-prime households. The research firm says the high level of clutter has caused response rates to drop to the all-time low from 0.4% in 2004.

              CARD  MAIL  HISTORICAL
           YEAR      OFFERS     RESPONSE
           1998:     3.44b        1.2%
           1999:     2.54b        1.0%
           2000:     3.54b        0.6%
           2001:     5.01b        0.6%
           2002:     4.89b        0.5%
           2003:     4.29b        0.6%
           2004:     5.23b        0.4%
           2005:     6.06b        0.3%
          Source: Synovate's Mail Monitor