Credit Card Solution

For those headline readers who are interested in the bottom line, the short answer to the question is American Express.

If you want an explanation as to who says American Express is the best credit card service provider or why American Express can claim to be the best at providing credit card services, read on.

According to a 2010 study just released by JD Power and Associates, consumers have given American Express the highest customer satisfaction ratings of the nation’s top 10 credit card issuers. American Express not only rated highest in in customer satisfaction in the 2010 study, the company also took top honors each year since the study’s inception in 2007.

JD Power and Associates, a global marketing information service that has been in business over 40 years and is probably most well-known for their customer satisfaction reports on new car quality, conducts research on six key areas of credit card customer satisfaction: interaction; credit card terms; billing and payment process; benefits and services; rewards; and problem resolution. The data gathered is then put through a mathematical formula which weights each of the key areas according to importance. The final result for each of the 10 companies will be a numerical value on a 1000 point scale.

Outstripping competitors significantly, American Express scored 769 in overall satisfaction. Discover Card ranked second with a score of 758. US Bank came in a distant third with an overall satisfaction score of 727. Not only is it significant that the American Express Company earned the JD Power Highest Customer Satisfaction Award, but the company’s score was a whopping 55 points above the customer satisfaction average score of 714.

Another item of note is that the average customer satisfaction score has risen from 703 points recorded in the 2009 report. On one hand, 11 points seems somewhat negligible. However, school teachers have repeatedly pointed out to struggling students that it is much more difficult to bring up a low grade than to maintain a high score from the outset. The overall customer satisfaction score in 2009 was the lowest in three years. Perhaps the increased average over last year is another minor indicator that the economy and the public’s trust in the economy is, like the media has recently begun to state, beginning to recover.

From the outset of the study in 2007, American Express has consistently maintained high performance scores in benefits and services. Past reports on the study have also singled out consumer satisfaction with American Express problem resolution. High scores in both billing and payment and in rewards have been highlighted in previous years’ reports. The 2010 JD Power and Associates report simply states American Express “performs well across all six factors that drive satisfaction.”

Two of the most talked about factors driving customer satisfaction seem to be a card’s rewards program or a card’s low interest rates or lack of annual fees. The importance of each of those factors is usually determined by whether or not the card holder carries a monthly balance. People who pay their card balance off each month generally seek a card offering an attractive rewards program while people who maintain a balance from month to month generally place an emphasis on finding a credit card issuer offering low interest rates and no annual fees.

Since the study was begun in 2007, two factors consistently influencing lower consumer satisfaction scores are an increase in interest rates or fees and a lack of clear communication on the part of the card issuer, specifically in relation to credit card terms. Because of legislation that went into effect in Feb. 2010 (the CARD Act), many credit card companies have made huge efforts to help consumers more clearly understand their credit card terms. The JD Power and Associates report indicates that although progress has been made, many consumers still feel they do not fully understand the credit card terms, and some of those consumers do not believe the card issuers are concerned with what is in the customer’s best interest.

In an economy that, over the past three years, has seen an extreme down turn in the housing market, multiple bank failures, and government bailouts of huge corporations, the good news is, along with an increase in the average of overall customer satisfaction, consumers generally believe that their card issuers are financially stable and reliable.

Source: JD Power and Associates

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