Did your recycling bin feel a bit lighter last quarter? According to Mintel Comperemedia, financial service direct mail was down 10% in the latest quarter:

Total
Q1 2008:  4.2 billion pieces  Down 10%
Q1 2007:  4.6 billion pieces

Credit cards
Q1 2008:  2.6 billion pieces  Down 14%
Q1 2007:  3.1 billion pieces

I'd like to think that online marketing has turned the corner and is finally making a dent in traditional direct marketing. But it's probably more likely that card companies, using stricter underwriting, simply had 14% fewer credit-worthy prospects. Plus, a few more people are opting out of snail mail (see note below).

Assuming 80 million credit-worthy households in the United States (out of 110 million total), the average household received 53 mailings in first quarter. If you are prime or alt-prime credit, you likely saw little-to-no change in your junk mail pile. 

Note: photo credit
Proving once again that you can find anything online, the picture above is from Jason Carter's blog where he is collecting credit card offers. This is his first-quarter haul, 23 for his wife and 7 for him. While that is slightly below the national average, Jason has been actively opting out of direct mail offers, so it is not a representative example. 

I received a mailer yesterday at my Seattle home address announcing ING Direct's upcoming launch in Seattle (see scan below). This version at least was sent only to existing ING Direct customers. Note the inside headline with an appropriate local touch, "Seattle's Getting More Bean for its Buck." 

There are not many specifics in the orange self-mailer, other than "You'll soon be seeing us all over the city—from Puget Sound to Lake Washington— spreading the savings message." I'll keep my camera handy to capture big orange visuals as the company arrives on the scene.

So, it doesn't sound as if we're getting a famous ING Cafe (see inset, the newest one in Chicago). However, I do have the opportunity to earn a $10 referral bonus by handing out the two detachable cards that came with the mailer (see note 1). The new account holder also earns a $25 bonus. Customers can sign up through the mail using the card, or go online to a special landing page <ingdirect.com/seattle> (see screenshot below).   

Seattle mailer front

Seattle mailer back

Landing page for Seattle offer <ingdirect.com/seattle>

Note:

1.  On the above scan, you can only see the top portion of one of two identical perforated referral cards designed to be given to family and friends. Sorry, my 8.5 x 14 scanner didn't capture the entire self-mailer.