For its October, 2007 issue, Consumer Reports surveyed 36,000+ subscribers to find out which credit card issuers were best and which were the worst. The results are interesting, but like any best/worst list, I think they are somewhat flawed.

Remember this is a list of the card issuers in terms of overall customer satisfaction, not individual credit cards. The rankings for best:

1. USAA Federal Savings
2. Navy Federal Credit Union
3. Other credit unions
4. Cabela's
5. Nordstrom

The rankings for worst (with worst being first):
1. Providian
2. Direct Merchants
3. Capital One
4. MBNA (now part of Bank of America)
5. jpmorgan Chase

It seems as though the biggest problem people reported was with interest rate issues. They don't specify, but I'm guessing that means having their interest rates jacked up after late payments.

The problem I have with this survey is that it is hugely unscientific. Yes, they surveyed over 36,000 people, but all of those people were Consumer Reports subscribers who volunteered to answer a questionnaire. A scientific survey would've randomly contacted people to question them about their credit cards, not surveyed the subscribers of a magazine that spends its time testing product/service quality.

I have no data to back this up (although I surveyed my wife and she agreed), but I'm guessing that the Consumer Reports subscribers who were willing to take time out of their lives to answer an online questionnaire about their credit cards are more likely to be extremists, overplaying the goodness or badness of something. In other words if they like a credit card issuer, they're more likely to be jumping up and down giving them the highest rating, and likewise jumping up and down screaming about how bad their least favorites are.

I could be wrong, but with the absence of any scientific data, we'll never know.

I also tend to think lists like this are prone to favor smaller issuers like USAA, which only issues cards to military personnel and their families, meaning you probably can't get one. I find it more interesting to see which of the big dog issuers ranked well-in this case, American Express topped the heap, with Discover close behind.

Which credit card issuers make you happy/angry?