J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study: Is Your Card on the List?

J.D. Power Survey

In this survey, J.D. Power collected feedback from 38,852 cardholders, covering the period from June 2023 to June 2024. The 2024 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study shows that points, miles, and perks in today’s credit card market are gradually being replaced by cash back and cards with lower annual fees. The report found that only 46% of cardholders were classified as financially healthy, while 51% carried revolving debt. Of course, the credit card preferences of the average American are still very different from those of us who play the points game, so the results were pretty surprising to me.

• Full report

Key Findings

In the current economic environment, everyday financial pressure is increasing, and people are more inclined to use everyday cash back credit cards. The findings below also confirm that trend:

• - Cash back cards are popular: 58% of cardholders use cash back cards, 31% use points/miles cards, and 11% use cards with no cash back;
• - People with weaker financial health are changing their card products: 54% of cardholders were classified as unhealthy, and these consumers tend to choose cash back cards and cards with no rewards value;
• - Revolving debt and high interest rates are a concern: 51% of cardholders carry revolving debt, and the average interest rate on new purchases reached 15.6%;
• - Financial health affects satisfaction: cardholders with revolving debt saw satisfaction drop by 5 points, with overall satisfaction down 61 points;
• - Automated customer service performs poorly: the automated service experience scored 40 points lower than in-person service and digital channels.

Here, revolving debt refers to not paying off last month’s balance and then continuing to spend next month. It’s clear that the average American carries a lot of debt, which also shows that banks collect a lot of interest from them.

Credit Card Rankings

Bank Satisfaction

AMEX topped the list of card issuers with the highest credit card satisfaction for the fifth consecutive year, with a score of 634; Discover and Capital One took second and third place. AMEX is generally reliable, with solid customer service and generous welcome bonuses or retention offers, since it has long been known for strong service. Discover claims that all of its customer service reps are in the U.S., and all of its cards have no annual fee, which may be why it came in second. Capital One may be easier to get approved for; many of its cards are designed for people with weaker credit histories, so it should be more suitable for the average American, haha.

No-Annual-Fee Cards

Capital One SavorOne Rewards Card once again ranked first among no-annual-fee bank rewards credit cards, with a score of 679. It’s still a bit surprising that it came in first, since this card is fairly niche in many people’s eyes and is a no-annual-fee card designed for dining.

Second and third place went to Chase Freedom Flex and Discover it, followed by Citi Double Cash. These cards are pretty much what I expected, since they’re all cards you’d actually use in everyday life, and the cash back is fairly generous and practical. Capital One is worth considering if you want to apply and keep the card long term. That said, it’s interesting that not a single AMEX card made the top spots here, so AMEX may need to step up in this area.

Overall rankings below:

Cards With Annual Fees

Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite took the top spot among bank rewards credit cards with annual fees for the second year in a row, with a score of 692. That was also pretty surprising to me, because this is a very niche card and its points can’t be transferred to miles, so they can only be used directly. But maybe that’s exactly why people like it: it’s easy to use, and the annual fee after credits isn’t that high.

Second place was surprisingly AMEX Blue Cash Preferred, a grocery card with strong cash back. It looks like people really do care about cards that offer high rewards on everyday spending.

The cards behind them are not very surprising: Chase Sapphire Reserve and AMEX Platinum are both iconic premium cards.

No-Rewards Cards

Capital One Platinum Mastercard had the highest satisfaction score among bank cards with no rewards or annual fee, with a score of 619. This series is basically designed for credit card beginners or people with weaker credit, so I don’t think most people need these cards—just take a look.

Airline Co-Branded Cards

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Card had the highest satisfaction among airline co-branded credit cards, with a score of 658; the second-place card was also a Southwest card. This shows that its points are easy to redeem and have a relatively fixed value, with many flight options, which should be the main reason for the high satisfaction. Plus, the Companion Pass is also very helpful for people traveling with multiple passengers.

• Three Chase Southwest personal cards with a historic-high 85,000-point welcome bonus! How should you choose?

Personally, when applying for an airline card, I think it makes more sense to first consider which airline is the hub at your nearby airport and which airline operates your usual routes. Of course, if you care about flights back to China, you can apply for one of the airline cards on the market and just take the welcome bonus.

No-Annual-Fee Co-Branded Cards

Apple Card had the highest satisfaction among no-annual-fee co-branded credit cards, with a score of 654. Apple fans really do have a lot of influence!

The cards behind it are Hilton and Costco. In fact, there really aren’t many co-branded cards that also have no annual fee, and both of these cards offer some help with everyday spending.