Credit Card Annual Fees Making a Comeback

   

Posted: Jun 1, 2009

A recent report finds that even though fewer consumers are receiving credit card offers, there's been an upswing in card offers that carry annual fees.

According to the mail-tracking company Synovate, U.S. households received 67 percent fewer mailed credit card offers, 372.4 million in total, during the first quarter of 2009 than they did in the first quarter of 2008.

However, of the credit offers that consumers did receive, 27 percent involved annual fees. At this time last year, that figure stood at 18 percent. The company says that many consumers who own a fee-based card often have multiple cards but tend use the fee-based one most often.

"As issuers continue to cut back offers and the mailbox becomes more superprime, we are seeing a proportionately higher number of card offers with an annual fee," said Andrew Davidson of Synovate.

The upswing in annual fees is likely a sign of things to come for consumers, because recently-passed consumer credit card reforms are forcing the industry to revise its practices and find new sources of revenue.