Okay, so it’s not just my imagination (nor is it just my personal mailbox): The credit card companies have started inviting new customers again. Direct mail offers from credit card companies were up 47% in the fourth quarter, compared to Q3 2009. That’s according to a Mintel study that was explained in this story by Media Post Marketing Daily.
Implications: It’s too early to suggest a comeback for the credit card business, as the quantity of offers are still nowhere near the level of earlier this decade. But apparently, having had some time to clean up their balance sheets, and having had the opportunity to now see what is involved with credit reform legislation, credit card companies are back in the business of looking for new customers.
Not that interest rates are typically higher and more card offers require the payment of an annual fee. Many of these changes can be attributed to the transparency and consistency required from the recently passed CARD Act, which reforms several credit card banking practices.
Even if in the form of “e-cash”—whether reloadable gift-cards, ATM cards or other forms of debit card—cash seems to be making a comeback. In a few years, “paying with plastic” might not necessarily mean incurring debt.
Mike Anderson
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