Credit Card Consumer Close-up.

According to Vividence’s Customer Experience Rankings report for the credit card industry, 25% of credit card users applied for their cards online and 33% access and/or manage their account at least once a week online.

Vividence monitored 2,000 consumers as they used 10 leading credit card Web sites in February 2004. The market research company found that Capital One, American Express and Discover claim the top three spots, respectively, for the best overall online customer experience.

What constitutes a good versus a bad customer experience? Vividence reports 21% of respondents have problems with the difficulty of accessing certain information on credit card sites while 11% say they are poorly organized.

For a view into the mindset of credit card users, Vividence also report why consumers choose to use credit cards, finding that nearly one-half value them for their convenience of not having to pay with cash or check. Nearly 30% say they use their credit cards to gain extra travel or reward points, while 27% cite the protection cards offer in merchant disputes. Interestingly, only 21% of respondents admit to using credit cards to “finance” purchases, meaning they do not readily have the money to spend.

Though many US consumers still harbor concerns about using their credit cards to buy something online, a 2002 Jupiter Research survey determined that other than credit card companies or issuers, the only other entities more consumers trust to store their personal information online are banks. Exactly 17% of consumers say they trust MasterCard or Visa to store their personal information online while 12% say they trust their credit card issuer.

For an overall perspective of how credit card companies are handling the challenges and opportunities of the growing number of consumers making electronic payments, read eMarketer’s report Electronic Payments: From Online Bill Payment to Credit Cards.

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