Aug. 20--Discover has overtaken American Express as the highest-rated credit card issuer for customer satisfaction, pushed to the top spot by its rewards and benefits, according to a J.D. Power study released Thursday.
The Riverwoods-based company rated a score of 828 out of 1,000, topping American Express, at 820, and Chase, 792, according to the J.D. Power 2015 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study.
It's the first year in the nine-year history of the study that Discover ranked alone as best, last year sharing the top spot with American Express, at 819.
This year, Discover has focused on the customer, J.D. Power said, improving its rewards redemption process and performing well across all six study factors: interaction, credit card terms, billing and payment, rewards, benefits and services, and problem resolution.
Discover earlier this year announced a "Freeze It" feature that acts like an on-off switch to stop new purchases and cash advances. Discover also provides customers with a FICO credit score for free. It also touts its U.S.-based customer service and forgiveness for a first late payment.
Card issuers as an industry scored a record-high 790. Bringing up the rear were GE Capital Retail Bank/Synchrony Bank and Citi.
More than half of credit card customers say they select a new card based on better rewards -- both the type of reward, like cash back or frequent-flier miles, and the value received from redeeming those rewards.
That's important for issuers because customers who rate their rewards as attractive spend more per month, $1,132 on average, than those who consider their rewards unattractive, averaging $744, J.D. Power said. And they're more likely to recommend the card to friends and family, it said.
"The fact that Discover ranks highest in satisfaction among all credit card issuers in each of the six factors measured in the study is a testament of the relentless focus and importance the company has placed on the ease of redemption and use of benefits," said Jim Miller, senior director of banking services at J.D. Power.
The study included responses from more than 20,000 credit card customers from September 2014 to May 2015.
gkarp@tribpub.com
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