Credit Card Solution

Credit card regulation failing?

Did you think that last year’s wave of credit card regulation would finally stop card issuers from gouging their customers? Well, you were half right. Most mainstream credit card companies have stopped their worst excesses. But at the industry’s fringes are players who stay within the law while still allegedly managing to exploit vulnerable customers.

That was the message of an editorial, headlined “The Customer Always Comes Last,” in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times. It accused the credit card companies‘ regulator, the Federal Reserve Board, of coddling the industry, and went on: “Watchdog groups say that companies are already eagerly exploiting gray areas in the law, either by concocting new charges or relabeling old, disallowed charges.”

Credit card companies that walk a fine line

The Times’ editorial picked up on a story in Saturday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Choosing the best credit card isn’t entirely about the interest rate and the amount of time you can get a balance transfer with 0% interest.  Although these things are very important, they are not the be all and end all of the whole business.  And whilst it is important to use credit card comparison sites such as this one for help and advice, there is a lot to be said for knowing what you want…

When you choose a new jacket or pair of shoes you might not choose a bright red colour simply because it doesn’t suit you, right?  Well it’s pretty much the same with a credit card, and when it comes to choosing the best credit card you simply need to know what you want.  You need to do a quick analysis of what you do, where you go, and how you spend your money.  Once you’ve done this you can better position yourself to choose the right credit card to suit your needs.

For example if you travel to the US twice a year then a credit card that offers free airmiles would be very useful to you.  If you love music and movies then perhaps a credit card that gives you money off in selected stores might be more useful to you?  You simply have to do the checks and then apply.  And don’t worry about your applications, if you have a good credit score then you’ll be fine.

As of the end of February, there were 576 million credit cards in circulation in the United States alone, according to CNBC.

And US consumer revolving debt was $864.4 billion as of the beginning of the year, with 98% of it tied to credit card debt.

So who are the top issuers of all these credit cards?

Well, you may be surprised to hear that Bank of America was the leader, with $194.7 billion in credit issued.

That includes business outside the US, in places like the UK, Canada, and Spain.

Chase came in a close second with $184 billion in credit issued via 119.4 million credit cards, making it the largest credit card issuer in the United States.

At third was Citi, with $148.9 billion in credit issued on 92 million credit cards.

Top 10 Credit Card Issuers

1. Bank of America/MBNA – $194.7 billion
2. Chase – $184 billion, 119.4 million credit cards
3. Citi – $148.9 billion, 92 million credit cards
4. American Express – $105 billion
5. Capital One – $68.8 billion
6. HSBC – $58.5 billion
7. Discover – $49.6 billion, 54.4 million credit cards
8. Wells Fargo – $36.4 billion, 17.3 million credit cards
9. Barclays – $32.6 billion
10. Lloyds TSB/HBoS – $19.3 billion

If you’re wondering where Visa and MasterCard are on this list, note that they’re not credit card issuers, but actually payment processing companies.

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

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