American Express is very popular. Sure, they might not be accepted everywhere, and they might charge higher fees to businesses that use their card, but to the consumer? They’re great. For the fourth year in a row, American Express tops the J.D. Power list of best credit card issuer thanks to a combination of great customer service, aggressive marketing, and a stellar set of customer rewards that promote card use.
“They have a strong awareness among customers of the benefits and rewards of having that card,” said Michael Beird, banking services director of J.D. Power, the company behind the survey. However, thanks to the CARD act and other changes in the credit industry, customer approval surged from a three-year-low in 2009 to new heights in 2010. “There has been higher satisfaction with credit card terms, a reduction in complaints about payment or billing problems, and issuers seem to be doing a better job interacting with customers,” explained Baird.
After AmEx, the top credit card issuers were Discover and US Bank. The least popular credit card companies were Capital One, Citi Cards, and industry-trailing HSBC, which was nearly 30 points lower than industry average, let along the industry leaders! That reason is probably due to their customers: “The folks who typically rank at the bottom have more of the riskier customers. Many of the customers who have lower credit scores end up paying higher fees, which means they might be complaining more.”
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