Mail solicitations hit the nation by storm

Jason Cantone
University Wire
10-26-2000
(Daily Illini) (U-WIRE) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- In the past three months, creditcard companies have flooded the nation's mailboxes with 992 million credit card solicitations, according to a new release by the tracking service Mail Monitor.

With such headlines as "You're Pre-Approved" and "Low, Low Rates," a record number of credit- card applications were sent out to the nation's consumers in the second quarter of 2000. A press release from BAIGlobal, the marketing firm which sponsors Mail Monitor, reported that 79 percent of all households in the United States received at least one card solicitation during the quarter. Colleges are particularly affected by this recent surge because college students are desired by companies for their high earning potential and common late fees. If this same percentage is effective for college students, over 25,000 credit card applications arrived in University students' mailboxes since the school year began.

"There were definitely a lot sent at the beginning of the year," said Kristin Sensmeier, freshman in engineering. "They may offer low rates, but they're all rip-offs."

This mailing increase poses a problem to the University's residence halls, where the mail for each student in the building must be sorted quickly and efficiently each day. These extended mass mailings can result in delays and increased stress amongst the mail clerks at each residence hall.

"All of these mass mailings by credit-card companies are a real hassle," said Marika Constantaras, senior in ACES and administrative assistant at the front desk of Illinois Street Residence Halls.

Constantaras said that, despite an increase in mail, students will continue to get their mail on time. Additional mass mailings by credit-card companies result in the need for mail clerks to work extra hours to get the job done, but she is sure that students need not worry about any extended delays in the near future.

Despite the record volume of mailings, the nationwide response rate to these offers took a dive to a new low of 0.4 percent. This is an ongoing slide, according to Mail Monitor data. These figures mean that a credit card company must send out 250 solicitations to get only one response. However, in 1999, it took only 62.5 solicitations to generate a response.

A reason for this low response rate is that many students no longer open envelopes that advertise credit-card offers. Instead, a large number of students throw away the unopened envelopes, knowing whether they are interested in a credit card before they open them, Constantaras said.

"The garbage can by the ISR mailboxes is usually filled with card applications after a mass mailing," Constantaras said.

Despite the record-low number of responses across the nation, there were still over 4 million credit-card applications, according to Mail Monitor. This is a 14-percent increase over the second quarter of 1999. Many of these new applications are being completed over the Internet, where many sites offer college students information about credit cards and a variety of applications. With positive results like these, mass mailings are expected to continue to be sent to the majority of college students across the nation.

If students prefer not to receive offers of pre-approved credit cards, three credit reporting companies have developed a toll-free number, 1-888-5-OPT-OUT.

Experian, one of the three credit reporting companies, said on its Web site that opting out will not end solicitations from all local merchants, religious and charitable associations and other business offers. To eliminate mail from these groups, as well as mail addressed to "occupant" or "resident," write directly to the organizations.



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