Despite the recession and a tight credit market in general, affluent Americans have seen a rise in premium Visa and MasterCard credit cards as card issuers attempt to attract and retain the most desirable customers, according to an analysis by Mintel Comperemedia.

In Q209, credit card issuers sent 28% more marketing direct mail offers for premium cards than they did the quarter before. This occurred while issuers reduced credit card offers as a whole by 8%, Mintel said.

Moreover, credit-card companies have sent a steady number of premium-card offers since early 2008, while at the same time slashing direct mail for general cards. In the first half of 2009, premium cards comprised one in five (19%) mail campaigns tracked by Mintel, an increase from just one in 10 (9%) in the first half of 2008.

Credit-card issuers are also competing by introducing new types of premium cards.  For example, high profile cards launched since the beginning of the economic downturn include Chase Sapphire, the Visa Black Card and the American Express Hilton Honors Surpass Card.

The top four issuers of premium credit cards:

“Credit-card companies are competing to attract people with high credit scores and big spending habits,” said said Andrew Davidson, SVP of Mintel Comperemedia. “Because premium credit cards often have high associated fees and low risk, issuers see them as an excellent way to restore profitability in today’s economy.”

Davidson sees this focus on premium cards as positive for the market overall. “Credit-card issuers are beginning to expand with more credit and products for the affluent. It won’t be long before this trickles down and we start seeing greater credit card marketing to all consumers.”

Earlier this year, a Mintel Comperemedia analysis revealed that the overall number of credit-card offers to the wealthy was holding steady, even as total credit-card mailings dropped.