American Express Tops Credit Card Satisfaction Survey

JD Power's first report on credit card satisfaction is out, and the market research company says American Express had the highest satisfaction ratings among U.S. consumers.

Ten different credit cards were studied across five factors. Power assigned different weights to ratings. The methodology resulted in "benefits and features" being deemed eight times more valuable than "resolution".

Discover Card came in a surprisingly strong second place, finishing only 7 points behind Amex on a 1,000 point scale.

Power also found that consumers who pay the full balance on their card each month valued rewards more while those who carry a balance naturally found lower interest rates and fees more valuable. The study also finds that rewards are key in credit card selection across the industry, and 80 percent of card holders receive some type of reward with their credit card usage.

While rewards programs are important to many credit card customers, some are also attracted to credit cards that offer lower interest rates and no annual fees. The study finds that customers of Discover, WaMu and Wells Fargo frequently cite “no annual fees” as the reason they selected their card. In addition, 84 percent of Wells Fargo card holders also use Wells Fargo as their primary bank.

“It’s important for credit card issuers to communicate to their customers all of the benefits their card has to offer,” said Taylor. “Customers who are aware of and use their card benefits are generally more satisfied with their issuer.”

Among the credit card networks, customer satisfaction with American Express and Discover is significantly higher than with MasterCard or Visa. However, 89 percent of Visa customers and 87 percent of MasterCard customers indicate that their card is accepted everywhere they want to use it, while only 17 percent of American Express and 19 percent of Discover customers say the same. MasterCard holders have slightly higher satisfaction than those with a Visa, which is primarily driven by higher satisfaction with membership benefits.

Labels: American Express, credit card, Discover Card, J.D. Power

posted by George Bounacos at 9:35 AM |