Let's kill credit card applications by mail
If you're like me, you are annoyed by all the credit card applications you get bombarded with at home. I propose we all try something new to try to discourage the credit card companies from soliciting our business this way. Maybe we'll save a few trees along the way too.
Whenever I get a credit card application, I always send it back in. I don't fill out any of the information, and I certainly don't sign the application. Instead, I take a thick black marker and block out my name and address, as well as writing the word "NO" in big letters. Please see the image below.
Then, I take the application and, using their provided envelope (which does not require postage added by me) and I send it in.
There are two reasons why my doing this hurts the credit card company (just a little bit):
1. Based on the deal they have with the US Postal Service, they only pay postage on the return envelope when someone actually uses it. So they can print as many as they like, but when that barcode at the bottom of the envelope gets scanned, the USPS sends the credit card company a bill. So, the more of the envelopes that get returned, the more costly it is for the credit card company to solicit business this way.
2. They need to pay people to open these envelopes. The more envelopes they get, the more people they need to employ. Every envelope they get that does not lead to a newly-issued credit card is a loss for them. The higher the fraction of the "non-applications" they receive, the lower their profit margin becomes.
Now, me doing this by myself represents nothing more than the tiniest nuisance to them. But if we all get together and do it, that might make a difference.
For example, I return about 5 of these a month. If 50,000 of us do the same, that's 250,000 non-applications a month, or 3 million per year. That's about a million dollars in postage, plus whatever it costs to get them opened. Now, a million dollars is not a lot to these companies, but we know that every 50,000 of us who do this will cost them an additional $1 million.
Let's give it a try!
Whenever I get a credit card application, I always send it back in. I don't fill out any of the information, and I certainly don't sign the application. Instead, I take a thick black marker and block out my name and address, as well as writing the word "NO" in big letters. Please see the image below.
Then, I take the application and, using their provided envelope (which does not require postage added by me) and I send it in.
There are two reasons why my doing this hurts the credit card company (just a little bit):
1. Based on the deal they have with the US Postal Service, they only pay postage on the return envelope when someone actually uses it. So they can print as many as they like, but when that barcode at the bottom of the envelope gets scanned, the USPS sends the credit card company a bill. So, the more of the envelopes that get returned, the more costly it is for the credit card company to solicit business this way.
2. They need to pay people to open these envelopes. The more envelopes they get, the more people they need to employ. Every envelope they get that does not lead to a newly-issued credit card is a loss for them. The higher the fraction of the "non-applications" they receive, the lower their profit margin becomes.
Now, me doing this by myself represents nothing more than the tiniest nuisance to them. But if we all get together and do it, that might make a difference.
For example, I return about 5 of these a month. If 50,000 of us do the same, that's 250,000 non-applications a month, or 3 million per year. That's about a million dollars in postage, plus whatever it costs to get them opened. Now, a million dollars is not a lot to these companies, but we know that every 50,000 of us who do this will cost them an additional $1 million.
Let's give it a try!
posted by Andy at 8:07 AM
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