Stores still offer credit cards

Despite a general tightening of approval standards for private label cards, the marketing of those cards continues -- even though banks wish they could be more targeted with offers. "Due to the Truth In Lending Act, we can't discriminate at the point of sale who we offer credit to," says Marc Sczesnak, president of private label issuer TD Retail Card Services.

Banks may not have much control when it comes to promoting their store cards. For some private label cards, marketing decisions -- such as whether to offer a shopper a card at the counter and how to promote cards in the store, in the mail and online -- are mostly left to the store. "How the card is offered to the customer is determined by the retailer," says HSBC's Savio. HSBC does have a role to play, however: "We work with them to integrate that card program into their marketing," she says.

Target leaves point-of-sale decisions out of human hands altogether, making use of an "intelligent system" that prompts cashiers to offer the appropriate Target financial product (if any) to guests at checkout. "This system prompts an offer based on guest behavior. It's how Target delivers a relevant offer to the guest at the right time -- ultimately resulting in a great experience for our guests," Foster says.

As a whole, economic changes could mean shoppers are subject to fewer of these marketing pitches. Beemer says that retailers are "not as aggressive as they used to be" when it comes to promoting their store credit cards. With many customers simply using the card once for the initial discount and then cutting it up, "The store doesn't see the long-term benefit that they did 10 years ago," he says.