Start checking your mail! With the recent credit crunch and tightening of credit criteria for new credit card account holders, credit card companies are sending out fewer direct mail credit card offers. Most consumers are probably thrilled to be receiving less of these unsolicited offers for new credit, however its a real sign of the poor financial times we are in. It's not unusual for Individuals with good to excellent credit to receive over 5 offers for a new credit card per week!

According to market research firm Synovate, in Q2 of 2008, credit card companies sent 17% fewer solicitations to potential card holders versus Q2 of 2007. This equates to around 180 Million fewer pieces of "junk mail" that flowed through the United States Postal Service (USPS). If there is one organization that really felt the impact of this, it would be the USPS which would have received $75.6 Million less in revenue.

When I started looking into this, I too realized that I have seen a drop in solicitations over the past 3 months. While credit card companies have reduced offline direct mail marketing efforts, they are still eager to sign up potential cardholders that have a credit score over 720. You can still expect that these individuals will qualify for a higher credit line or lower interest due to the fact they are most likely to avoid defaulting on payments which causes quarterly profits to sink.