The year-on-year budget for personal loan advertising has also been cut, while company spend on savings and company notices have both enjoyed an upturn since 2007.
Leading the downturn in spending was credit card provider Capital One, which cut its investment in direct mail by a whopping 83%, down to £6.3m for the year-ending June.
Total direct mail spending in the finance sector dropped 3.5% year-on-year to £522.9m, fuelled by a 10.57% drop in the yearly spend in the plastic cards sector, which dipped to just over £124m.
The outlay on personal loan advertising dropped 38% to £50.1m.
Mail order advertising, the second biggest investor in direct mail, fell to £352.7m – a 19.59% year-on-year cut.
Sector-wide drops led to an overall direct mail spend of £1.57bn for the year-ending June 2008, which is a 6.2% drop.
However, spend on savings, investments and company notices all grew in the year-long period.
Around £16.3m was ploughed into savings advertising, a 125.9% jump since 2007, while investments and notices increased 20.4% and 187% respectively.
Research reveals major drop in direct mail spending
A number of leading industries, including credit card firms and mortgage lenders, have slashed direct mail spend, according to a study by Nielsen Media Research.
