Store Credit Cards

The best store credit cards to build credit are the Amazon Store Card (5% back on Amazon.com with a Prime membership) and the Target Credit Card (5% back at Target and Target.com). Both require just fair credit (640+ credit score) for approval. And like all major store credit cards, they report to the three major credit bureaus every month. That will help you build credit history. But keep in mind that store cards can only be used at the retailer they’re affiliated with.

Unfortunately, you need at least a fair credit history to be approved for most store cards. If you have bad or limited credit, your options are slim. In fact, the only real “store card” for limited or bad credit is the Fingerhut credit account, which you can only use at the online retailer Fingerhut. But there are other cards for bad credit that are co-branded with retailers, meaning you can use them not just at those retailers but anywhere. For example, there’s the AeroMexico Secured Credit card (2 miles per $1 on gas and groceries) and the Best Western Secured Credit Card (3 points per $1 on Best Western stays).  

Here are the best store credit cards to build credit:

• Best for flights: AeroMexico Secured Credit Card. $300 minimum deposit. 3,500 bonus miles and companion certificate when you pay the annual fee or make a purchase. 2 miles per $1 on gas and groceries. 1 per $1 on all other purchases. $99 companion certificate each year. No annual fee. Bad/limited credit accepted.

• Best for hotel stays: Best Western Secured Credit Card. 5,000 bonus points for making your first purchase. 3 points per $1 on Best Western Stays and 2 everywhere else. $29 annual fee. Bad/limited credit accepted.
• Best bad-credit store card: Fingerhut Credit Account. No rewards. Only usable at the online retailer Fingerhut. No annual fee. Bad/limited credit accepted.
• Best for shopping online: Amazon.com Store Card. 5% back on Amazon purchases with a Prime membership. $10 Amazon gift card after approval. 0% deferred interest for 6-24 months on purchases. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.
• Best department store card: Target Credit Card. 5% off Target and Target.com purchases. Free 2-day shipping at Target.com. Extended 30-day returns. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.
• Best clothing store card: TJX Store Card. 10% off your first purchase in-store or online. 5 points per $1 at T.J. Maxx, tjmaxx.com, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra Trading Post and sierratradingpost.com. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.
• Best office supply store card: Staples Credit Card. 5% back in rewards on Staples purchases. Free next-day delivery on $50+ orders. $2 in rewards for recycled ink cartridges up to 20 times per month. $20-$25 off printing and technical services each year. 0% deferred interest for 6-18 months on purchases. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.
• Best home maintenance store card: Lowe’s Store Card. 5% off Lowe’s purchases or 0%-7.99% deferred interest for 6-84 months. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.

Some of the best store credit cards to build credit have “deferred interest.” Don’t confuse this with a normal 0% offer, where you only owe interest on the balance remaining after your intro periods ends. With deferred interest, you must pay off your entire balance by the end of the promotional period. If you don’t, you owe interest at the card’s regular APR from the date of purchase instead.

It’s also good to note that many stores offer co-branded credit cards. These are cards you can use everywhere, not just at the store. But they require at least good credit, so you’ll have to build some credit before you can qualify.

The easiest department store credit card to get approved for is the Fingerhut Credit Account, but that’s only if you count an online retailer / mail catalog as a department store. It’s the only store card you can get with bad credit. Pretty much all other store credit cards require fair credit (640+ score) for approval. But that still means most department store credit cards are easy to get for most people. It also means you should choose your card based on where you shop the most and which offers the most rewards, since there isn’t much of a difference in their approval requirements. Let’s take a look at a few good options.

Here are some of the easiest department store credit cards to get:

• Target REDcard: For people with fair credit or better. 5% off at Target and Target.com. Returns extended by 30 days. Free shipping. Yearly 10% off coupon. No annual fee.
• Walmart Store Card: For people with fair credit or better. $35 off a $75+ purchase the same day you get approved. 3% Walmart.com discount, 2% Murphy USA and Walmart gas discount, 1% Walmart in-store discount. No annual fee.
• Kohl’s Credit Card: For people with fair credit or better. 30% off your fist purchase. 15% off coupon by mail. At least 12 special offers per year. Spending $600 makes you a Kohl’s Most Valued Customer and entitles you to 18 discounts per year. No annual fee.
• JCPenney Credit Card: For people with fair credit or better. 1 point per dollar on qualifying purchases. Save 5%-15% on select items. $10 rewards by email. Prepaid card by mail worth $100-$500 when you buy 2 or more appliances starting at $398. No annual fee.
• Fingerhut Credit Account: For people with bad credit or better. Easiest store card to be approved for. No rewards. No annual fee.
• Amazon.com Store Card: For people with fair credit or better. 5% off at Amazon.com if you have a Prime account. $10 gift card after approval. No annual fee.

There are plenty of other department store cards with great deals too. For example, Lord & Taylor, TJX, Saks Fifth Avenue and Sears all give savings and perks that are worth looking at. Just remember that department store credit cards can only be used at the store that issued them (and sometimes affiliates), so apply for a card from somewhere you know you’ll shop on a regular basis.

Many people refer to store cards as charge cards, making talk of a Sears charge card, a Walmart charge card, a Kohl's charge card or a Disney charge card quite common.

However, in most cases, store cards are credit cards, not charge cards, and they do not require that you pay your balance in full each month. A good rule of thumb to remember is that if it has an interest rate, it's not a charge card.

You can’t use store credit cards anywhere. They only work at the merchants they’re connected with. For example, Target Credit Card, the REDcard, is solely for Target purchases. It’s not always one retailer, though. If multiple brands are owned by the same parent company, you should be able to use any one of their store cards for purchases from all of the brands. For instance, you can use the Old Navy Credit Card at Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta, Intermix and Wedding Way in addition to Old Navy. And you can use the Amazon.com Store Card at most merchants that accept Amazon Pay, such as RedBubble, Guess, CarParts.com, Build.com, Woot! and Authenticwatches.com.

What’s confusing is that some credit cards are affiliated with specific retailers but qualify as co-branded cards, not store cards. The difference is that a co-branded credit card belongs to a card network: Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover. And it can be used anywhere that network is accepted. So if your card doesn’t have a network logo on it, it’s a store credit card.  

Here’s why you can’t use store credit cards anywhere:

• Store credit cards can only be used at the retailers they’re affiliated with, which may include more than one merchant.
• The fact that store cards have limited acceptance is part of the reason they’re easier to get, generally requiring just fair credit for approval.
• Store cards are not the same as co-branded cards. Co-branded cards are associated with a particular company or organization but also belong to one of the four major card networks. So you can use them anywhere that accepts credit cards.
• The visual difference between store cards and co-branded cards is that co-branded cards feature the logo of a credit card network (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover) while store cards do not.

Many retailers actually offer two versions of their cards: one co-branded and another store-only. And there’s often just one application. The issuing bank decides which one you get, if any, based on your credit standing. You’ll generally need good credit or better to get a co-branded card. You can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub.

The easiest jewelry credit card to get is pretty much any jewelry credit card, including those from Helzberg Diamonds, Iddeal Jewelry, and Zales. You have about the same chance of getting all of them because they all are store cards that require fair credit (640+) for approval. So your best bet is to go for whichever jewelry store’s card has the benefits you like best. You could also consider a more general store card for a place that sells jewelry among other things, like JCPenney.

Keep in mind that it’s best not to use a jewelry credit card for financing because most, if not all of them, use deferred interest. In other words, they give you a low introductory (often 0%) interest rate but still calculate how much interest you would have accrued during that period at the normal interest rate. If you don’t pay off your balance in full by the end of the introductory period, you owe the interest. So that’s something to be wary of.

With that said, let’s take a look at the benefits and terms of some of the most popular jewelry cards.

Here are some of the easiest jewelry credit cards to get:

• Helzberg Diamonds Credit Card: 10% off repairs. $50 off $200+ purchase on your birthday. Free shipping. 0%-9.99% deferred interest for 6-36 months. Exclusive coupons by email. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.
• Zales Credit Card: 10% off repairs. $50 off $200+ purchase on your birthday. Free shipping. 0%-9.99% deferred interest for 6-36 months. Exclusive coupons by email. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.
• Iddeal Jewelry Credit Card: Flexible payment plans to help pay off your jewelry purchases. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.
• Maui Divers Jewelry Credit Card: 10% off your first purchase of $200+. No annual fee. 12 months of 0% deferred interest on purchases. Fair credit needed.
• Gordon’s Jewelers Credit Card: $50 off a $200+ purchase on your birthday. Free shipping. 10% off repair. 0%-9.99% deferred interest for 6-36 months. Exclusive coupons by email. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.
• The Jewelry Exchange Credit Card: 12 months of 0% deferred interest. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.

Riddle’s Jewelry Credit Card: 24 months of 0% deferred interest. Promotional offers at certain stores. Free shipping for online purchases. No annual fee. Fair credit needed.

If you want a store card that can be used for jewelry but also for other things, here are some other good options: The JCPenney Card gives you 15% off select jewelry and 1 reward point per dollar on all purchases. The Amazon.com store card gives 5% off all Amazon purchases when you have a Prime account. And the Target REDcard gives you 5% off all Target purchases.

You could also consider non-store cards with good bonuses. For example, the Capital One Venture gives you 50,000 miles when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months of account opening. You could use it to buy an engagement ring and save on your honeymoon with the miles. It’s easy to use credit cards to your advantage if you plan ahead.