US credit card customers happier as banks stop jacking up fees

By Rick Rothacker
Aug 23 (Reuters) - U.S. consumers are more satisfied with
their credit cards than they have been any time in the last six
years, because banks have stopped jacking up fees and fiddling
with other card terms, a consumer research firm said.
American Express Co was the top-rated U.S. credit
card issuer for the sixth straight year, according to J.D. Power
and Associates' annual credit card customer satisfaction study.
A number of big banks were below average, including Capital One
Financial Corp and Bank of America Corp.
But even companies at the bottom of the spectrum logged
higher satisfaction ratings compared with last year, and the
average increased as well, J.D. Power said.
"There has not been a lot of change in the past year in
fees, credit limits and card terms -- the things that often
affect customers in a negative way," said Jim Miller, senior
director of banking services at J.D. Power and Associates, in a
statement.
Overall credit card satisfaction averaged 753 on a
1,000-point scale, up from 731 in 2011 and 714 in 2010. The
score was the highest since the study began and on par with
overall retail banking customer satisfaction. The company has
performed the survey for six years.
American Express earned a score of 807, followed by Discover
Financial Services (799) and JPMorgan Chase & Co
(762). HSBC Holdings PLC received the lowest score
(703).
Bank of America scored 728, and Capital One scored 734.
Both banks have faced scrutiny recently for products they sold
their credit card customers.
Bank of America this week said it would stop selling credit
protection services which were the subject of a class action
suit in which customers alleged they were charged without their
permission and enrolled through deceptive practices.

Capital One last month reached a $210 million settlement
with regulators over its sale of certain payment protection and
credit monitoring products.
The J.D. Power study measures customer satisfaction with
credit cards based on these factors: interaction; credit card
terms; billing and payment process; rewards; benefits and
services; and problem resolution. The study is based on
responses from more than 13,726 customers.
J.D. Power, a marketing and research firm, is a unit of The
McGraw-Hill Companies.
A table summarizing results for this year and last year is
below:

Issuer 2012 Score 2011 Score
Industry 753 731
Average
American 807 786
Express
Bank of 728 705
America
Barclaycard 758 739
Capital One 734 720
Chase 762 735
Citi Cards 737 711
Discover 799 779
Card
GE Capital 704 N/A
Retail Bank
HSBC 703 689
U.S. Bank 748 721
Wells Fargo 737 726