When we first started marketing credit cards on the Internet with our old domain name in 2001, Direct Mail dominated the credit card marketplace, and the web was an amusing afterthought. While everyone supported online statements, when we wanted to get the web application, we often had to deal with boutique design shops that seemed in over their heads. We were convinced that in some cases they were printing out applications and faxing them to the bank.

Now, direct mailing responses are down over 75% from 10 years ago. In 1998, 1.2% of mailed out offers got a response, now it is 0.28%. While 42% of people got their credit cards from mailed out offers, the market is changing. Here at Cardpick.com, we are excited to have a team that has been finding credit card offers on the web for 7 years, and we look forward to it's continued rise as the dominant medium for getting information about credit cards and applying for credit cards.

All Credit Cards in One Card?

The credit card hasn't changed much in decades. While the financial terms have become increasingly complicated, with the change from a simple annual fee and interest rate to complex grace periods, adjustable rates, penalty rates, and complicated fees, the card itself is a simple piece of plaster with numbers imprinted on the card and stored on a magnetic strip in the back. People have gone from a single card to carrying an average of 9 cards. If you're like me, you carry several personal cards, several business cards, plus debit cards for business and personal accounts, it's a wallet full of plastic.

Now a new development may stop the escalation of plastic in your wallet. The new iCache offers to change the way you physically use plastic. You can upload your information on your credit card information, and the device stores it electronically. When you are ready to use a card, you select the card, and the iCache pops out a plastic card with the magnetic strip encoded with that card's information. Your information is actually protected, using biometrics to secure the device.

For $99 it won't give you any more credit, but it might make it more convenient to manage your credit. Now you can pick the card you use based upon the financial terms of the card, not the physical card in your possession. If you have a specialty card which only offers benefits at certain stores, you might have not carried it every day before, but now you can always add one more card to the iCache. Crunchgear has a review of the iCache, as does Money Magazine.