The credit card giant is understood to be in the process of ending its contract with Acxiom, its supplier of prospect mail data and database infrastructure services.
Justin Basini, Capital One's vice-president, marketing, would not comment on the termination of the Acxiom relationship, but did acknowledge that direct mail was increasingly ineffective for credit card acquisition in the UK.
"UK consumers have moved their credit card buying behaviour to the internet, so therefore sending out loads of direct mail with application forms isn't working anymore," Basini said.
"It's not that we won't do direct mail anymore but our focus now is developing an infrastructure focused on digital marketing and using paper to support that. We will still use letters to talk to customers, although we are investing more in electronic customer communications."
Capital One remains a big user of mail for acquisition in the US, its core market.
In the UK, the brand is ramping up its digital spend, moving from being the 39th biggest online spender in 2006 to number 4 in 2007, a year in which it was estimated to have invested £14.7m (source: Nielsen Media Research).
Digital ads on mainstream sites and affiliate marketing through price comparison sites have become key to Capital One's new business generation.
Financial Services
Capital One axes direct mail for acquiring customers
LONDON - Capital One, once a top three user of direct mail in the UK, is axing the channel for acquisition purposes as it devotes more resources to digital marketing.
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