CARD OFFERS MAY INDICATE US TURNAROUND

       Could a sign of economic recovery in the US be in American's mail-boxes?
       Synovate, which tracks credit-card solicitations, last week reported card offers mailed to consumers in that country dropped 6 per cent quarter on quarter in the second quarter, a far milder decline than recently before. And some big issuers, such as Bank of America and Citibank, actually have increased their offerings.
       "That's the flattening out or bottoming out," said Anuj Shahani, director of competitive tracking services at Synovate's financial services group.
       Of course, card issuers are still stingy with credit and picky about whom they send offers to. Shahani said only the most creditwrothy consumers with Fair Isaac credit scores of 700 points or higher were receiving offers. And even if you are among this select group, you probably will notice one change: no more fixed-rate cards.
       Meanwhile, everyone else with a credit card may soon see other changes when some provisions of the new credit-card-reform law kick in on August 20.
       It was only in last year's second quarter when card issuers stuffed 1.06 billion offers in consumer mailboxes, Synovate said.
       Since then, issuers overall have reduced their mailings by double-digit percentages from quarter to quarter, including a 44-per-cent drop between last year's fourth quarter and this year's first quarter.
       In this year's second quarter, mailings reached 349.1 million, down 6.2 per cent quarter on quarter, Synovate said.
       Yet some major issuers ramped up offers. Bank of America sent out 55.2 million mailings in the second quarter, up 77 per cent quarter on quarter, Synovate said. Citibank increased its mailings 65 per cent to 56.1 million.
       Card issuers do not want to go too far out on a limb, Shahani said. But they do not want to be the last to extend credit either.
       "Otherwise, someone else will get in and take customers away," he said.
       Most solicitations also occurred laste in the second quarter, another sign issuers might be overcoming a reluctance to extend credit, Shahani said. But do not expect an industrywide uptick in offers until next year, he said.
       If you do receive card solicitations, they will not be for a fixed-rate card.
       "They are a dying breed," said Curtis Arnold, founder of www.cardratings.com, which tracks cards.
       He said much of that had to do with credit-card-reform legislation that was signed into law in May.
       Card issuers for years have had great leeway in changing a fixed rate with little notice.
       Credit-card reforms will allow issuers to claim a card has a fixed rate only if it cannot be changed for a certain period that is clearly spelled out, Arnold said. Card issuers, worried of running a foul of the new law, are sticking with variable-rate cards.
       Most card reforms kick in next February, but two provisions take effect next week.
       The first requires card companies to mail bills at least 21 days before payment is due instead of the 14 days that has become the norm for some issuers.
       The second requires card issuers to give 45 days' notice before raising the interest rate or significantly changing card terms. (No notice is necessary if the rate on a variable interest card goes up, because its benchmark rate has risen.)
       Consumers often complain about the short time they have to mail in their payments, so the extra week will be helpful, said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at www.credit.com.
       But the 45-day notice provision will probably have little effect, because consumers tend to ignore notices anyway, he added.

       "Card issuers are still stingy with credit and picky about whom they send offers to. Only the most creditwrothy consumers with Fair Isaac credit scores of 700 points or higher are receiving offers."