J.D. Power Names American Express Best in Inaugural Credit Card Satisfaction Study

I've noted that the American Express Blue Cash card is the top credit card for big spenders, but it seems that American Express as a company has something to brag about as well -- it was named the best company in J.D. Power's first-ever credit card satisfaction study. I was emailed the results by a reader. Here are the highlights:

American Express ranks highest in customer satisfaction among credit card issuers, according to a new nationwide study by J.D. Power and Associates.  The study, which was released earlier today, ranked American Express highest in overall satisfaction among the 10 largest card issuers in the U.S.

The J.D. Power study indicates that credit card satisfaction is shaped by many factors (in order of importance):

• A card’s Benefits and Features (34%)
• Rewards (25%)
• Billing and Payment Process (21%)
• Fees and Rates (16%)
• Problem Resolution (4%)

American Express ranked highest in Benefits and Features with a factor score of 773, soaring 103 index points above the industry average.

American Express is a leader in the rewards marketplace because it strives to offer the richest rewards, providing depth and breadth of choice, flexibility and innovation. Rewards programs are the primary reason customers select American Express credit cards.

For American Express, the benefits and features of the Cards it provides comes down to...services like travel-related insurance, purchase protection, and fraud detection.

My thoughts on this:

1. Congrats, Amex. I've used the American Express Blue Cash card for several years now and love it. And it's about to get even better as I combine it with the Chase Freedom Cash Visa Card to earn up to 2.6% cash back.

2. Personally, I don't really care about a card's benefits and features. I'd prefer them to not offer these options and increase their rewards programs instead.

3. I do care about maximizing my cash back, and that's why I've used the Blue Cash card for so long. It earned me almost $500 last year and I'm on my way to beating that (by a long ways) this year.

4. J.D. Power doesn't hand these awards out just for the asking, so I think this is fairly meaningful. Also, they have a reputation for conducting good studies where the accuracy of the data can be counted on, so I see this as very solid information.

Comments

[Ron]

Here is the press release in case anyone is interested in seeing how their credit card rated

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2007232

[Mike B.]

I have had Blue Cash for about 3 years now and have been quite happy with the rewards, but recently had a slightly bad experience with a fraudulent charge.

Eventually, things turned out OK, but it took a LOT longer (and a lot more work on my part) than necessary. Of course, I don't have any other similar situation with a different card to compare it to, so maybe the other companies suck equally at dealing with this sort of thing. But, it was annoying that they are running these commercials touting how great they are at fixing these things while I was struggling with them.