NEW YORK—Credit card pitches are moving from the mailbox to the social-media feed.
Several big card issuers recently increased spending on Facebook ads in an effort to attract new borrowers, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Capital One and American Express spent an estimated $18.6 million and $13.5 million, respectively, on Facebook ads meant to sign up new consumer credit card holders in 2018, according to Mintel Comperemedia's analysis of data from digital marketing intelligence firm Pathmatics, up from $2.8 million and $4 million in 2017, noted the Journal.
Direct mail, phone calls and in-branch pitches, which accounted for an estimated 57% of credit card sign-ups in 2016, fell to 48% in 2018, according to Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Banks mailed 3.7 billion credit card solicitations in 2018, down from 4.5 billion in 2016, according to Mintel, the Journal reported.