American Express Ranks Highest in Overall Customer Satisfaction for Fifth Consecutive Year

While the overall business outlook, credit card debt and spending patterns for small businesses in the United States are largely unchanged this year, satisfaction with small business credit cards is rising. According to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study,^SM released today, the year-over-year improvement in customer satisfaction is highest among financially unhealthy¹ small businesses for whom credit cards and their rewards programs have become critical business tools.

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J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study

“Merchants report few macroeconomic differences in the past year and 49% of small businesses are still categorized as financially unhealthy,” said John Cabell, managing director of payments intelligence at J.D. Power. “It is noteworthy that this group is really driving a significant increase in customer satisfaction with business credit cards. Credit cards are used by 89% of small businesses for business purchases, making them the most frequently used form of payment by a wide margin. As card issuers continue to refine their benefits and rewards programs for this lucrative segment, it will be important to address the needs of small businesses that may be in vastly different financial situations.”

Following are some key findings of the 2025 study:

• Small business credit card satisfaction rises: The overall small business credit card customer satisfaction score is 716 (on a 1,000-point scale), which is up 8 points from the 2024 study. Areas showing the greatest improvement include terms, benefits and rewards earning. The year-over-year increase in customer satisfaction is highest among small businesses classified as financially unhealthy.
• Financially challenged businesses find value: Financially unhealthy small businesses, which have less stability and greater financial need, show improved satisfaction (+11 points) because of card features that matter most to them, such as availability of card purchase payment plans; balance transfers; and financial management benefits and discounts. The majority (60%) of startup businesses fall into this category and are also using their card as a tool to help fund capital improvements and purchase key supplies.
• Co-brand cards excel: Co-brand small business credit cards have significantly higher overall satisfaction (+17 points) among merchants than bank brand cards. This difference is largely driven by higher satisfaction with rewards and benefits for designated retail, airline and hotel partners. Annual fee and points/miles rewards cards also have high satisfaction among card product choices.
• Credit cards most common payment method but BNPL grows: Overall, 89% of small businesses used a credit card to make recent purchases, followed by digital wallets (47%), cash (38%) and debit cards (37%). Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) was used by 17% of small businesses, an increase of 4 percentage points from a year ago. BNPL is used most frequently (21%) by financially unhealthy small businesses.
• Merchant surcharges deter card use: More than one-fourth (28%) of small businesses have decided not to use their cards for purchases due to a surcharge added by another merchant. Perception of credit cards as very favorable drops significantly to 40% from 55% among businesses that chose not to use their card when facing a surcharge. The use of cash (44%) and BNPL (24%) get the biggest lifts when cardholders elect for an alternative payment method to avoid a surcharge.

Study Ranking

American Express ranks highest in customer satisfaction for a fifth consecutive year, with a score of 750. Chase (718) ranks second.

The U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study measures customer satisfaction with the largest small business credit card issuers in the United States across seven core dimensions (in order of importance): account management; meeting my business needs; terms; benefits; rewards redeeming; rewards earning; and customer service. The study is based on responses gathered from 3,728 small business credit card customers who used a small business credit card from a qualifying issuer in the past three months and have an approximate annual revenue between $10,000 and $10 million. The study was fielded from July through September 2025.

For more information about the U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/resource/us-small-business-credit-card-study.

To view the online press release, please visit http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2025161.

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company's business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

¹ J.D. Power measures the financial health of small businesses as a metric combining their creditworthiness, access to affordable funding and credit and safety net items like insurance coverage. Businesses are placed on a continuum from healthy to vulnerable.

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