Some 82% of American adults had at least one credit card, according to the Federal Reserve. But the credit card landscape has become increasingly complex.
Credit card debt has become a growing concern, with 51% of cardholders carrying revolving debt, according to J.D. Power’s latest consumer survey. A difficult macroeconomic environment is stretching consumers, with higher interest rates and dwindling savings causing changes in how Americans use credit cards, and what they’re looking for.
“Cardholders are facing mounting day-to-day financial pressures, which are showing up in the form of high levels of revolving credit card debt, declining levels of financial health and a migration away from points/miles cards,” said John Cabell, managing director of payments intelligence at J.D. Power.
“This is a tough marketplace for card issuers to navigate, however, because even though overall credit card customer satisfaction scores are largely flat, the customer base has really become bifurcated into one subset that is feeling squeezed by economic pressures and one that is not,” he added.
More than half of cardholders are now classified as “financially unhealthy,” J.D. Power found. This has caused a migration away from rewards-based cards: The use of points or miles cards by financially unhealthy cardholders fell to 27% this year, from 31% in 2023, as the use of cash back and value cards continued to rise.
For the past 18 years, J.D. Power has carried out its U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, which measures customer satisfaction with credit cards across seven factors: account management; benefits; customer service; new account; rewards earning; rewards redeeming; and terms. The study includes responses from 38,852 credit card customers from June 2023 through June 2024.
Whether you’re looking for travel points, cash back, rewards, or just building credit, there’s a credit card out there for it. With a plethora of options from a range of banks and issuers, however, it can be difficult to find the one. But it doesn’t have to be.
Keep reading to see J.D. Power’s top-ranked credit cards.
