And the award goes to…American Express - again. American Express prides itself on its outstanding customer service. According to a nationwide survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, American Express ranked the highest of all the credit card companies in customer service. This is, in fact, the second year that customers have rated them highest in customer service.

The J.D. Power and Associate study carefully measures each credit card company in five key areas. The five factors are: interaction, billing and payment processes, fees and rates, reward programs, and benefits and services. As you can see, the study really encompasses every factor of credit cards. The study is based on a 1000 point scale and relies on real customers’ answers. American Express scored 783 points. Discover Card came in second with a total of 751 points.

American Express performed well in every category. American Express got the highest score out of any of the other credit card companies in all of the five categories. Discover performed well in the interaction, billing and payment processes, and reward program sections. According to the executive director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates Rocky Clancy, American Express and Discover both offer a variety of services and benefits to a wide variety of customers. He said, “American Express and Discover Card are very different in their fees, reward programs and incentives, and their strong performances indicate their ability to suit the various needs that dissimilar types of cardholders have.”

The study also showed that people who pay off their balances every month (also known as transactors) tend to choose their credit cards by rewards programs 77 percent of the time. People who carry balances on their credit cards (also known as revolvers) look for low interest rates and low fees when choosing their credit cards 65 percent of the time. American Express has really honed in on these credit card trends. This is why they offer a wide variety of services and perform so well on this customer service satisfaction study.

J.D. Power and Associates also compared the use of cash back credit programs and reward programs. They found that 72 percent of all credit cardholders use some kind of reward program. Cash back programs were found to be the most common type of reward program. Customers also reported that getting cash back is the second most satisfying type of reward program. Any idea what the most satisfying reward program is? Customers who participated in the study said that getting free hotel stays is the most satisfying type of reward.

Customers who took advantage of reward programs tended to be more satisfied with the credit card provider than those who didn’t. Customers want to be rewarded for using credit cards. They want the redemption process to be as easy and quick as possible. This is another reason why American Express scored so high in their overall customer service ratings.

The 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction Study examined the spending habits of 7,665 credit cardholders. They carefully asked these credit card users to rate their credit card company based on five key factors. American Express took the lead in overall customer service satisfaction for the second year in a row. American Express has found the key in making their customers happy and giving them the opportunity to let their credit cards work for them.