Great customer service is important when selecting a credit card, said 85% of consumers surveyed in a recent RR Donnelley panel on financial services.
Consumers do not feel that the typical amenities—borrowing cash or accumulating airline mileage—are all that important. Only 25% say the ability to borrow cash is a strong factor in deciding which credit card to choose. Just 21% focus on the significance of accruing airline miles on their cards.
“People who like the airline miles are wealthy, higher-educated professional people who are likely to doing a lot of business travel,” said Richard Rein, director of consumer data analytics at RR Donnelley. “So you should know your market and target this carefully to those who really want it.”
A high or flexible credit limit is important, say 49% of consumers surveyed. All age groups concurred on this point, with 55% of young singles saying this feature was valuable; 53% of young couples; 47% of working older couples; 40% of retired older couples; and 50% of young parents.
Some 85% rated not having their data sold to telemarketers as one of their key concerns.
People also want a credit card that offers warranty insurance on items purchased with the card—some 58% say so.
The preferred cards are those with no annual fee, say 90% of consumers.
On average, 91% of consumers say it is extremely important that a credit card be well known and accepted all over.
The panelists were 10,000 American consumers who are the sole or joint decision-maker about financial services. They filled out a survey, with over 100 questions, on a Web site in January.
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