What is the best home improvement credit card?

The easiest home improvement credit card to get is either the Lowe's Store Card or the Home Depot Credit Card, because you can get approved for either of these cards with fair credit (credit score of at least 640).

The Lowe's Store Card offers a choice of 5% back on all purchases or special financing for 6 months of deferred interest on purchases of $299 or more. But watch out for the deferred interest - if you make a late payment or don't pay off your balance before 6 months is up, you'll owe interest on the whole initial balance, starting from the date of purchase. This card doesn't have an annual fee.… read full answer

The Home Depot Credit Card, on the other hand, doesn't offer discounts or rewards of any kind. But it does have a similar deferred interest financing offer for purchases of $299 or more. The catch is the same as the Lowe's Store Card: if you don't pay off your balance within the 6 month financing period, you'll be charged interest as if the promotional APR period never existed. The Home Depot Credit Card's annual fee is $0.

The best construction credit card is The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express because it offers an introductory APR for purchases of 0% for 12 months and has a $0 annual fee. Cardholders also earn 2 points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent each year, 1 point per $1 after that and 15,000 points for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.

Credit cards with 0% intro APR offers and rewards for everyday purchases are great for construction companies because cash flow is a common problem in the industry. Construction businesses often have projects with a lot of upfront costs, and only 9% of construction companies say they always get paid on time, according to a 2021 survey.… read full answer

On the bright side, there are lots of credit card options that could help construction businesses.

Best Construction Credit Cards

Credit cards specifically for construction do exist, and the Comdata Construction Mastercard is one example. It’s an industry-specific fleet card that comes with rewards on gas and building materials. But it also has a high APR and monthly fees for each cardholder in the fleet, which probably won’t work in a construction company’s favor. The late fees are steep for this card, at $150 per occurrence, and the fine print suggests a possible $0.10 per gallon administration charge, which seems to negate the gas rewards.

On the other side of the coin, Home Depot offers a Project Loan, which essentially is a credit card with a set buying window of 6 months, aimed at helping people finance remodeling projects. The APR value ranges from 7.24% to 19.96% depending on how many monthly payments you make. The card’s credit limits go up to $55,000, and cardholders have 66 - 114 months to repay the balance. Construction business owners may be able to use a Project Loan to their benefit, but they won’t be able to make purchases outside of Home Depot.

The Wells Fargo Home Improvement credit card – officially, the Home Improvement Projects Card – is a decent choice if you’re looking for a financing option for your home improvement project from a certain store. However, is not the best credit card on the market for this kind of projects.

What you should know before applying for the Home Improvement credit card:

• The Home Improvement credit card is designed for roofing, construction, HVAC and other related companies. These companies can enroll in the Home Projects credit card program and offer the card to their customers. If customers apply for the card and are approved, they can finance purchases at the store with no annual fee.
• The card is not affiliated with a major credit card network, meaning its use is limited to participating home improvement stores that accept the card.
• Wells Fargo offers a number of deferred interest financing options. But each participating store sets details such as minimum purchase amounts and expiration dates on financing.
• The card's regular APR is extremely high.

Alternatives to the Wells Fargo Home Improvement credit card:

There are better options for home improvement purchases and financing. For example, the Lowe's Store Card offers 5% discount on every purchase at Lowe’s and has a $0 annual fee. Plus, you’ll have access to a wider selection of items. Also, the card is accepted at Lowe’s stores nationwide.

If you have good credit, you’d be better off with a rewards card such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card. It gives you 1.5 - 5% cash back on everything you buy. There’s also a promotional APR of 0% for 15 months. True interest-free financing, like this card has, is different from deferred interest.