I realized today that there’s been a sound missing from my life. At first I couldn’t figure it out, but when I was getting the mail today, it clicked. I was missing the sound of my shredder. This time last year, my shredder was running full steam, shedding two or three credit card offers a day. During the fall, the credit card offers were coming in slowly, but my shredder was at least getting exercise a few times a week.
Lately, however, there haven’t been any credit card offers to shred. No 0% introductory offers. No fixed for life balance transfers. Not even an airline credit card with an $85 annual fee.
As someone who spends much of his life researching and writing about credit cards (its as depressing as it sounds), I’ve grown to miss the afternoon ritual of reading and shredding credit card offers. I’m really starting to think I wasted money when I bought the shredder with the special credit card hole.
While the lack of paper and plastic running through my shredder has its upsides (more trees, less wasted plastic), the complete absence of credit card offers highlights a growing problem for consumers: nobody wants to issue credit cards. Last year, I could count on at least three American Express, two Bank of America, a Chase, and a Capital One offering per week. Plus, a Discover or HSBC now and then. Now, like many Americans, I’m being completely ignored.
The number of credit card offers sent through the mail has been in decline for some time. However, most people greeted this trend with a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, this is not a good thing at all. First of all, when there were offers, there was competition. People could choose from multiple deals (you can still do this online, but again, there are fewer offers to choose from). More importantly, people were being reminded of the fact that better deals existed. I’m probably one of the few people who wakes up thinking about 0% balance transfers. Most people need a reminder, like a advertisement. I’m sure many millions of people saved quite a bit of money because a 0% credit card offer piqued their interest.
Ultimately, the sad truth is that credit card companies don’t want our business anymore. And they definitely don’t want us taking advantage of money saving 0% APR deals. Fortunately, for the time being, you can still get a 0% credit card online at-gratuitous plug warning-websites like Smart Balance Transfers. Unfortunately, the people who aren’t actively seeking to save money on credit card interest are missing out on rare opportunities to reduce expenses.
So I remain sad about my silent shredder and my empty mailbox. Sure, I love trees as much as Al Gore. But I’d rather see a few more credit card offers sent out so more Americans can use 0% deals to help them deal with these tough times.
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