NEW YORK — Credit-card offers are appearing in mailboxes again after all but drying up last year. But the deals are a far cry from the zero-interest- rate, no-fee offers common at the height of the credit bubble.
Anyone looking for a new card should expect to pay a higher interest rate, and those with spotty payment histories will have a harder time getting one than in years past.
The uptick is nevertheless a sign there’s a rebound underway.
In the first quarter of this year, banks sent out 481.3 million card offers, according to Synovate Mail Monitor. That’s a 77 percent jump from their lowest point, 272.5 million, in the third quarter of 2009. That’s still well below the 1.58 billion mailed at the peak, the third quarter of 2005. Two banks, Chase and Capital One, sent about half of all offers. HSBC and Citi mailings also notably spiked.
