Posts Tagged JD Associates

Last October, JD Power and Associates released their report on consumer credit card satisfaction.  The report was based from the responses of over 7600 credit card users to interviews conducted on five categories.  Upon completion, the responses were analyzed to determine consumers’ overall happiness and satisfaction rates with their credit cards.

What categories were considered?

1. Billing And Payment Process
Are the bills correct and on time?  Is payment a breeze, with plenty of options and flexibility?

2. Fees And Rates
How do the fees incurred on the card match up competitively with other cards during actual use?

3. Reward Programs
What amount does the consumer ultimately spend before receiving a particular reward?

4. Customer Interaction
How good is their call center?  Are problems handled capably?

5. Benefits And Services
What value-added qualities does it have that benefits consumers?

Three out of the five categories were won by American Express - surprising considering AmEx’s customer base consisted of mostly charge card holders.  They won the categories in fees and rates, rewards satisfaction and customer interaction.

With the American Express consumer-base consisting of mostly transactors - charge cards as opposed to credit cards - it might be obvious, on hindsight, why they won the fees and rewards categories.  Charge card holders are transactors, not creditors, who pay their balances monthly in full.  Since the charges don’t pile up, their fees remain relatively small throughout the card’s use.  Because little charges are incurred - the rewards become much more valuable.

Along with AmEx, other high-rankers included Discover Card and Chase.