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