Study: Discover, Amex, Chase sites offer best online experience

Computerworld - Discover Bank, American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. provide prospective credit card customers with the best online experiences, according to a study released yesterday by Keynote Systems Inc.

The Keynote Rankings for Credit Card Prospects study looked at the online experience of 2,000 prospective credit card customers as they used 10 leading credit card Web sites. Those sites included American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, HSBC, MBNA, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

Keynote also examined the sites' performance, including overall responsiveness and reliability, and looked at more than 250 metrics such as customer satisfaction, customer acquisition and brand affinity. It also studied how easy it was for visitors to apply online for a credit card.

According to Keynote, 71% of online customers said Discover was the easiest credit card to apply for online, as well as the easiest company to deal with. American Express was considered a "high value" and "trustworthy" brand by consumers, who praised the company's online services and said they found it easy to explore those services using the site. Chase won high marks based in part on strong customer support and overall credit card satisfaction.

The sites that provided the best online experience also did well in attracting new customers, Keynote said. Chase and American Express were joined by Citi in topping the Keynote Customer Acquisition Index, which measures which Web sites are best at acquiring customers online.

Approximately 30% of prospective customers who visited the Chase, Citi and American Express sites indicated that they were very likely or extremely likely to sign up for a credit card account with those companies, while only 16% of the consumers visiting the sites of lower-ranking credit card sites said they were likely to do so.

More than half of study participants (52%) said that online account management services are very or extremely important in their selection of a new credit card account, up 8% from last year, according to the report. Only 8% of consumers in the study said online account services were not important in their selection process. Also, according to Keynote, 39% of online consumers said they are interested in cash-back programs offered by credit card companies.

"Although the online channel has not traditionally been where consumers apply for cards, credit card sites and online services do have a major impact on consumer decisions," Bonny Brown, director of research and public services at Keynote Systems, said in the statement. "The impact of card sites on consumer decisions and behavior is steadily increasing, and card companies need to sit up and take notice."