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Barclaycard US Ranks Among Best of J.D. Power and Associates Credit Card Study

Barclaycard ranked fifth overall in the 2009 J.D. Power Credit Card Satisfaction StudySM  released September 1.

This represents tremendous improvement from one year ago.  In the 2008 survey, Barclaycard ranked 16th overall.  There were not enough Barclaycard responses in 2008 to qualify among listed issuer participants.

The study measures customer satisfaction with credit cards by examining six key factors:  interaction, fees and rates, billing and payment process; rewards; benefits and services; and problem resolution.  Satisfaction with fees and rates overall dropped to 603 points - down 37 points from 2008 - contributing considerably to the decrease in overall industry satisfaction.

"Overall satisfaction declines when a customer incurs a late fee," said Michael Baird, director of banking services at J.D. Power and Associates.  "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.

The study found that proactive and clear communication is key to improving satisfaction among credit card customers.  For example, when an interest rate change occurs, satisfaction scores are 97 index points higher when customers say they were notified ahead time by the credit card issuer, compared with when customers say they were not notified in advance.

American Express ranks highest in satisfaction among credit card issuers for the third consecutive year with an index score of 762 followed by Discover Card and National City.  Barclaycard ranked fifth out of 18 credit card issuers. Barclaycard also performed better than most in the category of reward programs.

"With our vision of owning the world of simple payment, Barclaycard has made it a priority to improve the customer experience and to ensure that the company continues to be focused on customer needs," said Nancy Dalton who oversees the Treating Customers Fairly initiative at Barclaycard US.  "We are pleased with the dramatic improvement."