Given such saturation, you might think the siege would be lifted, but that seems not to be in the cards. Those who a decade ago might have been rejected are now prime candidates. Almost no one is too poor to have one. Still, with possibilities for finding new customers shrinking, the solicitation efforts grow, although now they're aimed at differentiating one card from another and getting existing owners to raise their usage. Solicitation response rates have fallen.
Users are worried about an economic downturn.
Defaults are rising. But so are solicitations. As the solicitations rise, so also is the availability of money from other sources. With home ownership and prices climbing, more and more Americans have equity in their homes. And that equity can be used.