Comments on: An Interesting Conversation About Store-Branded Credit Card Applications

By: angel

angel — Mon, 26 May 2008 18:40:30 +0000

Imvu credits

By: Inzaburbs

Inzaburbs — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:14:57 +0000

My sister came to visit from the other side of the world and was offered a free gift if she signed up in (I think it was Macy’s). She told them it would be rejected because she didn’t live here but she was talked into doing it anyway. Using my address. Very clever.

By: Techy

Techy — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:55:07 +0000

At one retailer by me; big local company to the NYC Metro area(P.C. Richard & Son-50 stores in the area), they always give no interest for a minimum of 90 days on all purchases(usually longer on bigger purchases) So their card is worth it. They sent me a birthday card recently and I got 10% off in the store for being a card member. Otherwise, I agree the store cards are worthless; but there are some exceptions out there, this being one of them.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:46:52 +0000

As a college student I work part time at Old Navy. They have this same policy. On my schedule each week I have a number written on the bottom. The number of credit card apps I’m supposed to get people to sign up for that week. Yeah right. I never meet this goal and then I get in trouble. But the Old Navy I work at is in such a small town I’m sure by now everyone already has a card. And I always feel like I’m a skeezy car salesman when I have to ask people to sign up for credit cards with crazy credit rates of 23% +.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:29:02 +0000

i tell them no, too, because I don’t use credit cards, then i charge my purchase on a credit card. but that’s me living dangerously.

just like any other credit, you have to manage credit wisely. we have a store credit card because the clothes simply fit my wife better than clothes in other stores. since we were one of the earlier status members, we received status for life which has better benefits like more points and free shipping regardless of purchase amount and we do not have to meet the annual status purchase requirement. since we do a lot of online shopping, free shipping adds up. since we pay off every billing cycle, it doesn’t matter how much they charge in interest rates since we aren’t going to be paying any interest rates. if you are worried about interest rates on a store branded card, or any credit card for that matter, then you probably ought not to be getting the credit card (of course i’m talking about purchases not if you are trying to reduce debt).

ok, we technically have two branded credit cards, if you count Chase Amazon, but since it is a regular visa card (albeit points earned are towards amazon purchases) you can use it anywhere else visa is accepted. again, since we buy most things on line and most things from amazon, it is worth while and exceeds what we’d get from another credit card.

at the end of the day, it really is about controlling your spending habits, knowing your spending habits, and maximizing from your spending habits.

By: Nate R

Nate R — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:09:29 +0000

Congrats on making it into the Consumerist again. Debt elimination ROCKS!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:16:00 +0000

During high school, I worked at Mervyn’s (a clothing store along the lines of JC Penny’s, maybe slightly lower scale). They are/were owned by the same parent company as Target. Anyway, they pushed their store brand credit cards hard. Apparently, the store credit cards were actually more profitable than the store itself. I couldn’t believe it until I realized how many discounts and coupons they gave to induce shopping. Add a 25% interest rate and it adds up fast!

This was well over 10 years ago now, so I have no idea what the current situation is.

By: MITBeta @ Don't Feed The Alligators

MITBeta @ Don't Feed The Alligators — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:49:11 +0000

Another thing to be careful about with store branded credit cards is that many of them don’t carry the same consumer and anti-fraud protections that “real” credit cards (AmEx, Visa, MC, Discover) carry. Caveat Empor!

By: Gypsie

Gypsie — Sun, 11 May 2008 15:07:57 +0000

Also, store brand credit can actually hurt your credit score when it comes time to get a mortgage. That is what happened to my DH and I. He used store credit when he had my engagement/wedding ring set custom made. He only wanted to pay a portion of the set before it was actually made and then pay it off when he picked it up. The only way at the time to do this was to apply for and get “store-brand” credit. And he payed it off without acquiring any interest. So even though it was “clean”, the bank looked at it as store brand credit and it reduced our credit score by quite a bit when it came time to get our mortgage. (and, yes, the bank told us that was the reason they were offering us less money to borrow at a higher interest rate – of course, we shopped around and got what we needed at a better interest rate) I now warn all my students to stay away from any “store-brand” credit or credit cards.

By: Lazy Man and Money

Lazy Man and Money — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:30:45 +0000

The approval process is usually about 30 seconds and nearly everyone gets approved. I don’t think too many cheer that they have accomplished a great feat or anything.

The other side of the coin is that perhaps if you are already a frequent shopper of the store, it makes sense to get the store card for various promotions. It’s a chicken and the egg syndrome. Does the card make people shop more, or do the people who shop a lot tend to have the card?

We have a Home Depot card because they send us 10% off coupons every now and again. We don’t go out and buy a new BBQ every couple of weeks – instead we use it on projects that we’d do anyway.