USAA and American Express Tie for Best Customer Experience in Credit Card Industry, According to New Temkin Group Research

WABAN, Mass., March 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on a study of 10,000 U.S consumers, USAA and American Express earned the top spots in the credit card sector of the 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings. At the other end of the spectrum, HSBC was the lowest rated credit card issuer for the third consecutive year. The average rating for credit cards places it tied at number nine out of 19 industries.

"USAA and American Express set the pace for customer experience in credit cards while HSBC is a real black sheep in the industry," states Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.

The Temkin Experience Ratings evaluates three areas of customer experience: functional (can customers do what they want to do), accessible (how easy it is to work with the company), and emotional (how consumers feel about their interactions).

The ratings include 10 credit card companies: American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citigroup, Discover, HSBC, U.S. Bank, USAA, and Wells Fargo.

Here are some additional highlights from the ratings:

• USAA and American Express are tied at the top of the industry, ranked #89 across all industries with a Temkin Experience Rating of 70%. That represents a three-percentage point decline for USAA and an increase of two percentage points for American Express.
• The lowest-ranked credit card company is HSBC, earning a rating of 54%. It remains in last place for the third straight year after a two-point decrease between 2012 and 2013. The company also earned the lowest score for all three of the underlying components: functional, accessible, and emotional.
• Capital One was the only other credit card issuer to earn a "very poor" rating, earning the next to lowest score in the industry, 59%,
• American Express earned the top functional rating, Discover earned the top accessible rating, and USAA earned the top emotional rating.
• Citigroup showed the largest improvement, gaining eight percentage points between 2012 and 2013. The financial behemoth remains near the bottom of the industry, however, because of its very poor emotional rating.
• The average rating for the credit card industry increased from 61.5% in 2012 to 63.6% in 2013.

The 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings along with other ratings can be accessed at the Temkin Ratings website, www.TemkinRatings.com.

The report "2013 Temkin Experience Ratings" can be downloaded for free from the Customer Experience Matters^® blog, at ExperienceMatters.wordpress.com as well as from the Temkin Group website, www.TemkinGroup.com.

About Temkin Group: Temkin Group is widely recognized as a leading customer experience research and consulting firm. Many of the world's largest brands rely on its insights and advice to steer their transformational journeys. Temkin Group combines customer experience thought leadership with a deep understanding of the dynamics of organizations to help accelerate results. Rather than layering on cosmetic changes, Temkin Group helps companies embed practices within their culture by building four critical competencies: Purposeful Leadership, Employee Engagement, Compelling Brand Values, and Customer Connectedness. The firm's ongoing research identifies leading and emerging best practices across a wide range of activities for engaging the hearts and minds of customers, employees, and partners. For more information, contact Bruce Temkin at 617-916-2075 or send an email.

About Bruce Temkin: Bruce Temkin is widely recognized as a customer experience thought leader and is Customer Experience Transformist and Managing Partner of Temkin Group. He is also the author of a very popular blog, Customer Experience Matters® (ExperienceMatters.wordpress.com). Prior to forming Temkin Group, he was a VP at Forrester Research for 12 years. Bruce is a highly demanded speaker who consistently receives high marks for his content-rich, entertaining keynote addresses. He is also the co-founder and Chair of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA.org), a global non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of customer experience management.

Customer experience matters is a registered trademark of Temkin Group.

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SOURCE Temkin Group