American Express received the highest marks from card users and was the only major corporate card issuer to receive an above average score in the 2008 credit Card Satisfaction Study released today by J.D. Power and Associates.
The study, based on responses from 7,665 card users, rates card issuers on five factors: interaction, billing and payment process, fees and rates, reward programs and benefits and services. This is the second year that J.D. Power and Associates conducted the survey, and American Express has been top-rated both years.
Users gave American Express a score of 783 on a 1,000-point scale, with the issuer scoring well in all categories, according to J.D. Power and Associates. The only other issuer in the survey to score above the industry average, which was 724, was Discover Card, which currently is not a player on the issuer side in the corporate card market.
Three major corporate card issuers—J.P. Morgan, U.S. Bank and Citi—received scores about at the industry average in the survey. Bank of America and GE Money, which American Express acquired earlier this year
(BTNonline, March 27), both scored just below 700 points.
Reward programs were a key booster to customer satisfaction levels, according to the survey. Those customers who redeem rewards on average scored their issuers 117 points higher than those who did not.
"It is critical for credit card issuers to ensure that cardholders are taking advantage of these programs," Rocky Clancy, executive director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates, said in a statement. "Making the reward redemption process as easy as possible by removing limits—such as point expiration dates or restrictions on use—encourages use of reward programs, thus enhancing overall satisfaction."