Discover voted No. 1 for customer loyalty
The Discover Financial Services Discover card has been ranked No. 1 in customer loyalty among leading credit card brands, according to the 2009 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. 
Discover Card has won the credit card category 12 years in a row.
“Receiving recognition for our leading customer service continues to be a great honor. We believe this is a reflection of our employees’ level of dedication, performance and high-quality service that they consistently deliver,” said Carlos Minetti, executive vice president of cardmember services and consumer banking.
Brand Keys’ methodology identifies the most important drivers of customer loyalty in a given product or service category. Drivers for the credit card category include rates, fees and flexibility; rewards and services; ease and speed of interactions; and protection and precision. Researchers assemble a statistical combination of emotional values with the rational rating of attributes that identify the bond between consumers and a brand.
“This is a real tribute to the Discover Financial Services’ brand and the team managing it. In the current marketplace, financial brands are being held to higher and higher customer standards, and Discover has been able to successfully meet customer and category expectations year-after-year,” said Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys founder and president.
“Our Discover brand is all about rewards and customer advocacy. We provide industry leading products, services, and tools that help consumers spend smarter, manage debt better and save more,” said Harit Talwar, executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “Given the economic environment, it’s especially important for us to listen to our customers and provide them with meaningful solutions.”
Discover Card offers the following tools to help cardmembers spend smarter and manage debt better:
– Spend Analyzer: The Spend Analyzer helps cardmembers better understand their spending habits by providing a visual representation of their Discover Card purchases through graphical charts that organize their purchases into useful categories such as travel, supermarkets and gas. The tool also allows cardmembers to take a closer look at their spending, with the ability to drill down to view greater detail and compare spending behavior over time. Visit www.discover.com/spendanalyzer.
– Income Gap Protection: A supplemental loss-of-income offering designed to pay benefits directly to the customer to help cover monthly expenses. The offering helps cardmembers maintain their finances during unexpected life events such as unemployment, disability, accidental death and family leave. Visit www.discover.com.
– Paydown and Purchase Planners: Calculators that give cardmembers the personal information they need to help pay down their balances or understand how a purchase could affect their monthly payment. Visit the Account Center at www.discovercard.com/paydown.
– Discover.com Mobile: This mobile version of the Discover Card Web site allows cardmembers to manage their credit card account directly from their mobile phone’s browser. The new mobile Web site offers a simplified version of the Discover.com account summary interface. Visit www.discover.com/mobile.
Bad news
It isn’t all good news for Discover, howeve. It has just announced that its chargeoffs for bad credit card loans could reach 8% this quarter. The company says it will cut 500 jobs, or 4% of its workforce, in May as it works to cut costs.