John Lewis plays its credit cards right to win best for customer satisfaction

Published on Tuesday 21 October 2008 23:08

MAJOR differences have emerged in customer satisfaction among credit card providers, with John Lewis winning the highest praise.

Department stores and supermarkets such as Marks & Spencer and Tesco were all ranked far ahead of high-street banks, in a survey conducted by consumer watchdog Which? published today.

The John Lewis/Waitrose credit card had a 90 per cent satisfaction rating, but customers of Scottish banks were far less happy, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland finishing 19th and 21st respectively.

Sixty-one per cent of Bank of Scotland and only 60 per cent of RBS customers were satisfied with their service.

Which? Money polled 4,419 Britons to see how they rated 24 credit card providers and the results revealed a gap of almost 50 per cent satisfaction levels between the best and worst.

This is the second year that the John Lewis group has finished top of the credit card tables, scoring an increase of 6 per cent on last year.

The retailer was rated highly for accuracy and clarity of statements, as well as overall customer service and its offers and discounts.

Nationwide came second with a customer satisfaction score of 87 per cent, while Smile climbed the ranks from fifth last year to third place this year with 86 per cent.

Abbey finished bottom of the survey, receiving the lowest customer satisfaction score with 52 per cent.

Many other well known providers also scored poorly, including Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Barclaycard, MBNA and Alliance & Leicester.

However financial experts warned that consumers should not evaluate card companies on customer satisfaction ratings alone.

Sean Gardner, of Money Expert.com, said: "Assessing customer service is pretty pointless unless you weigh up its importance against things like price and value for money.

"I could be satisfied with the accuracy of my credit card statements but that doesn't solve much if my bank's credit card is not competitive. You simply cannot take customer service in isolation to judge financial products.

"For example, there are some 113 different credit cards with a more competitive balance transfer deal than the John Lewis Partnership card, and 12 cards with a better deal than Nationwide's."

Mr Gardner also warned that although some credit cards may have rated lower for customer satisfaction, they also offer some of the best rates available.

He said: "While Abbey comes bottom for customer service its Zero credit card is proving very popular because of its lack of fees."

Customers were least satisfied with how well their provider informs them of better deals available to them. And they rated accuracy of statements the most important aspect of service from credit card providers.

The most common reason for choosing credit cards was that customers already had a product with the same company, with 26 per cent of people citing this as their main reason for signing up.

Which? Money editor Martyn Hocking said: "You could be wasting money if you don't shop around and just choose a card from your existing bank.

"Of the big four banks, only Barclays currently offers a card that makes it into the Which? Money Best Buy tables.

"With the credit crunch making everyone tighten their purse strings, it's more important than ever that you get the best deal on your credit card.

"The difference between the worst and the best credit cards can be substantial, so it's worth doing your homework."