Credit Card Debt Management

American Express has been thoroughly stigmatized by Visa commercials stating all the vendors who “don’t take American Express.” It is true that American Express does not enjoy the same global popularity as Visa or MasterCard. However, despite that, J.D. Power and Associates’ 2007 Credit Card Satisfaction Study study ranked AmEx higher than its nine counterparts in terms of overall customer satisfaction. The company received 735 out of a possible 1,000 points.

The popularity of American Express is due in part to good rewards, interest rates and customer service. This is largely because AmEx retains a lot of the control over the issuing, payment processing and interest rate levels of its cards. Visa and MasterCard, on the other hand, leave most of these decisions up to the banks and vendors with whom they partner.

But back to the main drawback of AmEx: It is not accepted around the world, just as the Visa commercials claim. The company is working to close the gap, but less than 20 percent of AmEx cardholders reported the ability to use their card wherever they wanted, according to the J.D. Power study. Meanwhile, nearly 90 percent of Visa and MasterCard cardholders reported having this ability. Those two credit card companies are accepted at more than 20 million locations over 150 countries. American Express is widely accepted throughout only North America and Europe.

The recent study, based on responses this summer from 7,812 credit card users, highlights an oft-overlooked company. But for the savvy consumer, albeit one who does not travel extensively, American Express is a choice worth looking into.