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Discover vs. American Express vs. Chase: Which credit card company is best?

A new J.D. Power study says 47% of credit card customers who switched to a new card within the past 12 months made the move for a better rewards program.

This comes as major credit card issuers have been trimming benefits left and right because they're getting too expensive.

RELATED: Credit card issuers trim benefits: See who’s cutting what

Discover vs. American Express vs. Chase: See which credit card issuer is best!

Despite recently announcing that its price protection benefit is going away soon, Discover ranked highest in customer satisfaction with a score of 836 on a 1,000-point scale.

American Express (830) ranked second and Barclays US (806) ranked third in the U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study.

J.D. Power’s report measures customer satisfaction with credit card issuers by examining six factors: interaction, credit card terms, communication, benefits and services, rewards and key moments.

It’s based on responses from 24,018 credit card customers that were collected from September 2017 through May 2018.

Here’s a look at the list of credit card issuers ranked from best to worst, according to J.D. Power: 

  • Discover: 836
  • American Express: 830
  • Barclays US: 806
  • Chase: 804
  • Capital One: 803
  • Industry average: 801
  • Citi: 797
  • Bank of America: 791
  • US Bank: 781
  • Wells Fargo: 777
  • Synchrony Bank: 762
  • Credit One Bank: 718

"Competition is fierce among credit card issuers to provide ever-richer rewards," said Jim Miller, Senior Director of the Banking Practice at J.D. Power. "Banks are experiencing record expenses related to the increasing rate of customers redeeming their rewards. To manage profitability, some issuers have eliminated or reduced card benefits. The key for issuers in this highly competitive environment is to make sure they are offering the types of benefits that resonate with current and potential customers."

The study found that reward value is directly linked to customer satisfaction. Free credit scores, mobile apps and digital billing are also viewed favorably by cardholders.

Before you apply for another piece of plastic, read Clark's credit card philosophy and explore our archive of credit card content.

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