Whether it’s Doublemint® Gum or Double Jeopardy® or double coupons, Americans have long had a love affair with doubles, and Capital One℠ is capitalizing on that love with its current “Double Miles Challenge.”
According to the Capital One website, until May 1st or until the company gives away one billion miles, consumers who open a new Capital One Venture Card can double last year’s miles when they provide a summary of 2011 dollars spent on a competing travel rewards card. The Double Miles Challenge is valid up to $50,000, making it possible for an individual to rack up 100,000 miles.
Travel rewards competing cards accepted for this offer include all major credit cards (American Express®, Discover®, MasterCard®, and Visa®). However, Capital One does have some exclusions; travel rewards on small business or corporate cards, debit cards, prepaid cards and the like are not eligible.
In order to complete eligibility for up to 100,000 bonus miles, new card holders must spend $1,000 within three months of opening their account.
What’s 100,000 Venture miles worth? That’s approximately $1,000 toward travel expenses, including planes, rental cars, and hotels, and Capital One guarantees there are no blackout dates when it comes to using your miles.
A deal like this is worth checking out. Ivan Daniel of DailyMarkets.com, as quoted in the Capital One press release, said, “This 100,000 miles giveaway is the biggest credit card signing bonus so far this year, so it is definitely a deal you don’t want to miss.”
Not only does the Venture Card have an unbelievable introductory offer with its Double Miles Challenge, when it comes to travel rewards cards, it’s recognized as one of the top cards available. This recognition has been bestowed by industry respected publications including MONEY® Magazine, BusinessInsider, NerdWallet and Cardratings.com, and it comes because of the easy to understand and easy to take advantage of policies of the card. It’s a card that’s worth using on everyday purchases.
With the Venture Card, consumers earn double mileage point on every purchase, every day. Points earned never expire, can be used for free flights on any airline, and are never subject to blackout dates. Additionally, when travel is purchased with the Venture card, whether it’s a flight, a rental car, or a hotel, consumers can easily redeem their travel miles before, during, or after the purchase by going online or making a phone call to Capital One. The cost of the purchase is refunded on the customer’s next billing statement.
If you’re shopping for a better deal than your current rewards miles credit card, then Capital One is looking for you! Be sure to sign up before May 1 to take advantage of the incredible Capital One’s Double Miles Challenge!
American Express Canada was honored with the 2011 Service Quality Award of Excellence for its customer service call centres, according to a recent press release on the American Express Canada website. The award recognizes the highest level of customer satisfaction among credit card companies not only in Canada, but in all of North America.
The Service Quality Award of Excellence is an annual award presented by Service Quality Measurement, “an industry-focused research firm that tracks, benchmarks and recognizes over 450 leading North American call centres.” Based on on over one million surveys of customers who have contacted a call centre, American Express Canada’s receipt of the award is a benchmark achievement.
“We’re honoured to be recognized by our own customers for providing outstanding value and service,” says Andrew Carlton, General Manager and Vice President, World Service at American Express Canada
American Express Canada states it has offered exceptional customer service for 158 years. Like the rest of the American Express group, American Express Canada embraces the “Relationship Care℠” program.
This unique approach to customer service recognizes it’s the customer’s voice which is important in determining offerings and services of the company. American Express trains its call centre personnel in how to listen to the customer and provide support that is focused on the individual consumer. This means customer service calls are unique and do not follow a set script nor are customer care professionals limited in the amount of time they can spend on a cardholder phone call. When an American Express cardholder phones in, the customer care professional is not only committed to helping the individual with his or her question, but also goes the extra mile to explain benefits that the American Express card has which fit into the lifestyle of that particular customer.
American Express is so committed to connecting with cardholders through its Relationship Care and its “Recommend to a Friend” programs that American Express employees are able to earn percentage of pay incentives based on the satisfaction of cardholders who call in. “Every time a customer calls us, we view it as an opportunity to deepen our relationship with them,” says Carlton.
It’s not surprising that American Express Canada has earned the 2011 Service Quality Award of Excellence. This is another plaque on the wall of recognition for outstanding performance in customer service. The American Express company in North America has been recognized as a top recipient of customer satisfaction awards by JD Power and Associates for five consecutive years and Forrester Research has also rated American Express highest on its Customer Experience Index for credit card providers.
“If there’s one constant throughout the history of our company, it’s our focus on service,” says Carlton. “It is our top priority to make each customer experience personal, and it’s our Customer Care Professionals that deliver on this promise.”
JD Powers and Associates, a highly respected global marketing information services with a solid reputation for over 40 years of business, released results of its 2011 US Credit Card Satisfaction Study℠ showing that American Express® ranks highest of the top 10 US credit cards when it comes to customer satisfaction. American Express has taken top honors all five years the survey has been conducted.
Conducted in May and June 2011, and with over 8,700 responses from credit card customers, the survey ranks the top 10 US credit cards in six key areas.
- Interaction
- Credit Card Terms
- Billing and Payment Process
- Rewards
- Benefits and Services
- Problem Resolution
Results are tabulated on a 1,000 point scale and indicate that overall customer satisfaction with credit card companies is up 17 points from 2010 to 731. The JD Power study indicates increased customer satisfaction was recorded with both customers who typically pay off their credit card balances each month as well as those who take advantage of the revolving credit and maintain an ongoing balance.
The survey showed gains in all six areas measured, but the increase in customer satisfaction in problem resolution was most notable. Customers reported fewer problems in 2011 (down 3%), faster resolution of any problems reported, and fewer contacts with the credit card company in order to resolve the problems.
Although many factors could contribute to the increase in overall customer satisfaction, the JD Power’s survey press release speculates one possibility is there has been a decline in credit card interest rate increases over the last year. In addition, there has been a corresponding decrease in the reports of credit card dissatisfaction based on increased interest rates.
Another factor boosting 2011 credit card ratings is an apparent attempt by credit card issuers to communicate more clearly with their customers. The number of people indicating they understand their credit card terms is up 3% from last year.
“It appears that credit card companies are doing a better job of communicating with customers, which may be an effect of the CARD Act,” said Michael Beird, director of banking services at JD Power and Associates. “This improved communication is key to ensuring that customers fully understand their credit card terms—particularly benefits and fees—which helps reduce the number of problems reported and improves the overall experience.”
It seems significant that on a 5 star ranking system, the only two cards to achieve a 5 star overall satisfaction ranking were American Express and Discover Card. The rest of the playing field ranked average (3 stars) or below on overall satisfaction. American Express scored 786 on the 1,000 point scale, up 17 from last year, and Discover Card was a close second, scoring 779. The next closest card scored 40 points lower.
American Express consistently outranks competitors especially in areas of benefits and services, credit card terms, and rewards. JD Powers and Associates notes the increase in overall customer satisfaction with all cards, credit card companies appear to be making efforts to level the playing field. Striving to level the playing field is definitely tied to the increased competition to gain new cardholders that JD Powers also noted for 2011, making it more important for consumers to educate themselves on credit card terms and services and to evaluate their personal needs before shopping for a new credit card.
Click here for the full results of the survey.
American Express announces that Serve, its digital payment platform or “virtual wallet”, is up and running in the U.S.
Freedom, flexibility, choice, and control seem to be the guiding principles behind the service that allows customers to make payments from their mobile phones, execute person-to-person money transfers online with anyone else having an active serve account, or make in-store or online purchases wherever American Express cards are accepted.
A company with 160 years of history and a reliable track record financially, American Express continues to remain on the cutting edge with Serve, a service that focuses on consumers’ needs to conduct transactions quickly, easily, and on the go. Mobile applications for iPhone®, iPod touch®, iPad®, and Android™ make that possible. Also, Serve accounts can be accessed easily on Serve.com and, of course, on Facebook.
Not only does Serve have built in flexibility as far as making payments, customers also have several options to choose from when it comes to funding their Serve account. Accounts can be funded through your bank account or your debit card. Credit cards may be the funding source, or funds can even be transferred by another user. American Express has also set up the option to have a debit or credit card linked to your Serve account as a back up or secondary source of funding so you will always have the freedom and control you need when it comes to purchases or payments.
With every Serve account established, with no additional paper work or forms to fill out, the account owner is eligible for a pre-paid plastic Serve card. The pre-paid Serve card can be used for withdrawals at ATM’s where American Express is accepted and can be used at any retail store front or online merchant that takes American Express. The Serve card is, of course, re-loadable.
Keeping the customer in mind, American Express has designed the Serve system with a sub-account feature. The sub-account feature allows the account holder the flexibility of establishing accounts for children or other family members while, if necessary, still maintaining control over where the funds in the sub-accounts are used or even establishing daily transaction limits for individual sub-accounts.
Celebrating the release of its innovative digital payment platform, American Express is offering customers an incentive to open a Serve account by waiving account fees for the first two months. Normally, there is no fee to set up an account or download the mobile application from either iTunes or the Android Market. Also, there’s no charge for loading funds through your bank account, but after the two month introductory period a there is a fee of 2.9% of the load amount plus $.30 per transaction for funding the Serve account through a credit card. There is also a $2.00 charge to use the Serve card in an ATM.
American Express boasts that Serve program has the most advanced encryption and multi-factor authentication to protect both the consumer’s monies and the consumer’s identity.
Flexible. Convenient. Giving the consumer the freedom he wants and the control he needs. Backed by a solid, long-standing reputation. Serve, by American Express, is a secure way to simplify your life while remaining on the cutting edge. Apply for your account today and take advantage of the “No Fees” introductory offer!
Load up the kids and grandkids! Cash in those SkyMiles! Delta’s recent elimination of the mileage expiration date makes a family dream vacation, well, a reality.
Looking to come out on top of the stiff competition between major airlines, Delta’s focus on member benefits is a winner. With the announcement of the elimination of the 24 month SkyMiles expiration date they previously had, Delta becomes the first US major airline carrier to allow reward miles to be redeemed whenever the customer wants.
The freedom to earn and use SkyMiles without worry about deadlines is of great benefit to infrequent flyers who previously watched those miles disappear before they had earned enough for a trip to one of Delta Airlines’ over 350 destinations worldwide. Now it’s possible to save those miles for a future trip, whenever it might be.
Not a member of the Delta SkyMiles Awards Program? The Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express is a fantastic rewards card. For starters, new card holders earn 20,000 bonus miles with their first purchase. If you add two more card members to your account, that’s another 5,000 bonus miles. That’s already more than enough miles for a trip to Hawaii or Mexico!
In addition, the Delta and American Express team often provides members limited-time bonus offers such as the current 50% mileage bonus when you buy or gift mileage. It’s a great way of helping members who want to get away but are a few miles short. And the timing is perfect to be able to fly your college son home for spring break or to give your granddaughter the chance to get away with girlfriends before finishing the semester.
The fact that SkyMiles earned as part of Delta’s Awards Program are redeemable for more than just plane tickets makes Delta’s Awards Program even more flexible and customer friendly. Purchase your plane tickets, reserve your rental car, and book your hotel all with your SkyMiles!
With Delta and the American Express Delta Platinum SkyMiles credit card from , you really can plan that special family trip for your anniversary or for your son’s college graduation, even if he hasn’t graduated from high school yet!
For those headline readers who are interested in the bottom line, the short answer to the question is American Express.
If you want an explanation as to who says American Express is the best credit card service provider or why American Express can claim to be the best at providing credit card services, read on.
According to a 2010 study just released by JD Power and Associates, consumers have given American Express the highest customer satisfaction ratings of the nation’s top 10 credit card issuers. American Express not only rated highest in in customer satisfaction in the 2010 study, the company also took top honors each year since the study’s inception in 2007.
JD Power and Associates, a global marketing information service that has been in business over 40 years and is probably most well-known for their customer satisfaction reports on new car quality, conducts research on six key areas of credit card customer satisfaction: interaction; credit card terms; billing and payment process; benefits and services; rewards; and problem resolution. The data gathered is then put through a mathematical formula which weights each of the key areas according to importance. The final result for each of the 10 companies will be a numerical value on a 1000 point scale.
Outstripping competitors significantly, American Express scored 769 in overall satisfaction. Discover Card ranked second with a score of 758. US Bank came in a distant third with an overall satisfaction score of 727. Not only is it significant that the American Express Company earned the JD Power Highest Customer Satisfaction Award, but the company’s score was a whopping 55 points above the customer satisfaction average score of 714.
Another item of note is that the average customer satisfaction score has risen from 703 points recorded in the 2009 report. On one hand, 11 points seems somewhat negligible. However, school teachers have repeatedly pointed out to struggling students that it is much more difficult to bring up a low grade than to maintain a high score from the outset. The overall customer satisfaction score in 2009 was the lowest in three years. Perhaps the increased average over last year is another minor indicator that the economy and the public’s trust in the economy is, like the media has recently begun to state, beginning to recover.
From the outset of the study in 2007, American Express has consistently maintained high performance scores in benefits and services. Past reports on the study have also singled out consumer satisfaction with American Express problem resolution. High scores in both billing and payment and in rewards have been highlighted in previous years’ reports. The 2010 JD Power and Associates report simply states American Express “performs well across all six factors that drive satisfaction.”
Two of the most talked about factors driving customer satisfaction seem to be a card’s rewards program or a card’s low interest rates or lack of annual fees. The importance of each of those factors is usually determined by whether or not the card holder carries a monthly balance. People who pay their card balance off each month generally seek a card offering an attractive rewards program while people who maintain a balance from month to month generally place an emphasis on finding a credit card issuer offering low interest rates and no annual fees.
Since the study was begun in 2007, two factors consistently influencing lower consumer satisfaction scores are an increase in interest rates or fees and a lack of clear communication on the part of the card issuer, specifically in relation to credit card terms. Because of legislation that went into effect in Feb. 2010 (the CARD Act), many credit card companies have made huge efforts to help consumers more clearly understand their credit card terms. The JD Power and Associates report indicates that although progress has been made, many consumers still feel they do not fully understand the credit card terms, and some of those consumers do not believe the card issuers are concerned with what is in the customer’s best interest.
In an economy that, over the past three years, has seen an extreme down turn in the housing market, multiple bank failures, and government bailouts of huge corporations, the good news is, along with an increase in the average of overall customer satisfaction, consumers generally believe that their card issuers are financially stable and reliable.
Source: JD Power and Associates
The new Zync from American Express is the first credit card of it’s kind that let’s applicants choose a “lifestyle pack” that fits them and their purchase habits best. American Express lets you choose one of the following lifestyle packs:
Go Pack – Earn double points on eligible airline tickets and enjoy car rental discounts when you book through American Express Travel. Car rental discounts up to 25% are available from Avis, Budget and Hertz. All points are credited to your Membership Rewards points account and the annual cost is just $25.
Social Pack – Earn double points at qualified restaurants and on qualified concert, movie and show tickets. Applicants will also be automatically enrolled to receive emails for advanced ticket access and other benefit information. All points are credited to your Membership Rewards points account and the annual cost is just $25.
Connect Pack – Earn double points on eligible cell phone, cable, broadband and internet services through qualified providers. Applicants who choose this pack will also be eligible to receive 25% discount on the number of Membership Rewards points require for redemption of cell phones and other electronic communication devices. All points are credited to your Membership Rewards points account and the annual cost is just $25.
Eco Pack – Earn double points on eligible purchases at select green merchants rated by Greenopia®. Greenopia selects and rates merchants based on their impact to the environment. Applicants who choose this pack will receive discounts of 25% when redeemed for qualified eco-friendly merchandise and carbon offsets. American Express will also donate $1 to TerraPass to fund reductions in carbon emissions at dairy farms and landfills. All points are credited to your Membership Rewards points account and there is no annual cost.
The Zync from American Express credit card has an annual fee of $25 and features all of the standard cardmembers benefits of an American Express card: Memberships Reward points on every purchase, car rental insurance and road side coverage, and purchase protection. Purchases made through the Bonus Points Mall earn triple points on every purchase with over 250 retailers and all balances must be paid in full each month.
We are pleased to announce the re-release of three American Express credit cards. The highly sought after Blue cards from American Express are once again available on our website and the feature the same great reward programs or cash back. The following Blue cards are now available:
Each of the cards also feature a 0% APR for 6 months on purchases and exclusive American Express cardholders benefits.
It’s that time of year to start thinking about what you want for Christmas. After all, everyone likes a “little something” during the holiday season.
American Express’ Wishlist offers products from top brands at amazing prices. For the 2009 season, American Express has extended My Wishlist to Daily Wish. Daily Wish includes products you wish for at prices you want.
Each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the
Daily Wish website is updated to display exclusive deals only available to American Express cardholders. To be eligible, you must sign up for AMEX’s Daily Wish program and have a valid American Express credit card. Simply input the required information and be sure to request email notifications for the week’s upcoming deals. It’s that simple.
Here’s how it works.
There are a number of different “collections” through Daily Wish. You can search each collection for the products you want. You will be able to view products that are already available, as well as upcoming deals. You can create your own Wishlist by tagging the items that you are interested in. As soon as the product becomes available, you are eligible to purchase it. Simply click the “I Want It” button. From here, you can choose if you want to put the purchase on your American Express credit card, another credit card or use your American Express bonus points. It’s like getting paid to create your very own Holiday Wishlist.
American Express’ Wishlist or NEW Daily Wish is certainly available during the holiday season. However, you can take advantage of this program year round! That’s right. You have the entire year to save up to 50% through the AMEX Network Daily Wish. Shop hundreds of retailers who are competing to offer you the very best deal.
Now is the time to make your list and check it twice!
Last week, J.D. Power and Associates released their 2009 Credit Card Satisfaction Study with results of what customers really think about credit card issuers. The results weren’t surprising as most customers this past year have seen rate increases, fee increases, credit lines slashed or accounts closed completely. As a result of the economy, credit card issuers have been forced to cover rising defaults and losses. Customers haven’t responded well to the recent changes and credit card issuers have seen their customer satisfaction ratings plummet.
In fact, the J.D. Power and Associates survey found that the customer satisfaction level has reached a three-year low. Michael Beird, J.D. Power and Associate’s director of banking, said, “Overall satisfaction declines 86 index points when a customer incurs a late fee. Issues with fees also contribute to the high incidence of problems and complaints in 2009, with 18 percent of customers reporting problems, compared with 10 percent in 2008.”
In 2008, only 10 percent of customers reported that their fees and rates were increased. That number has almost doubled in one short year. That’s right…20 percent of credit card customers now say that they have seen an increase in credit card fees and rates. But, does the type of customer affect satisfaction?
Absolutely.
The survey found that those who are among the unhappiest are those credit card holders who do not pay off their credit cards in full each month. Credit card customers who carry a balance from month to month gave credit card companies the lowest ratings. American Express ranked highest in customer satisfaction for the third straight year with an index score of 761. Discover Card and National City came in second and third with index scores of 751 and 740, respectively.
So, what have these companies all done well? Customers reported being satisfied with credit card companies when they received consistent communication from the creditor. Even when a fee or rate increase did occur, customers reported being satisfied 97 percent of the time when they received notification of the increase beforehand.
Although customers are not overly satisfied with credit card companies currently, there is one thing credit card issuers can do to keep customers happy. Communicate. Credit card companies need to keep their customers informed and customers need to do their part by staying informed. Customers can actively participate in the communication process by researching different credit cards and educating themselves before applying.
Surely, the level of overall credit card satisfaction will increase when well-informed customers team up with credit card companies who communicate.
Have you had a good or bad experience with your credit card issuer this past year? Give us your feedback.
