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.

The best pre-approved store card is the Kohl’s Credit Card because you can easily check for pre-approval right through the Kohl’s website. The Kohl’s Card has a $0 annual fee, gives a 30% discount on your first purchase, and sends another 15% discount in the mail with your card. Cardmembers also get at least 12 special Kohl’s offers per year. The Kohl’s Card usually requires at least fair credit for approval, which is standard for a store credit card. But the fact that you can initiate a pre-approval check on the Kohl’s website is rare, as most store cards require you to shop and wait for a pop-up about pre-approval.

Some of the biggest issuers of store cards, like Synchrony, Comenity and TD Bank, don’t let you check for pre-approval without shopping. But other major issuers, such as Citi and Capital One, do offer online pre-approval check tools, the results of which may include store cards.

When you are unable to check for pre-approval directly, the best way to find pre-approved store cards is to shop on stores’ websites. When you go to check out, you may receive a pop-up that will let you check if you’re pre-approved for the store’s credit card. You’ll need to input your Social Security number (sometimes just the last 4 digits), and the issuer of the card will do a soft pull of your credit. The soft pull won’t hurt your credit score. To get a pre-approved store credit card offer online, you’ll need to make sure you don’t have an adblocker active on your browser.

It’s also possible that you could receive a pre-approved store credit card offer while shopping in person. When you check out, the cashier may offer to check if you’re pre-approved. Often, applying and getting approved for a card while shopping will get you some kind of discount on your purchase that day. Just remember that pre-approval doesn’t mean guaranteed approval. Your chances are about as high as they can be, though.

Here are some retailers with pre-approved store card offers:

• Abercrombie & Fitch
• Bath & Body Works
• Dillard’s
• GameStop
• J. Crew
• Kirkland’s
• Kohl’s
• Loft
• Overstock
• Victoria’s Secret
• Walmart
• Williams-Sonoma

Keep in mind that you may not always receive a pop up for pre-approved store cards if you shop online. Refreshing the page and then proceeding to check out again may trigger it. It’s also possible that some store cards may show up in the online pre-approval checks of the credit card companies that issue them.

The best electronic store credit card is the Best Buy Store Card. It gives 10% back in rewards the first day you use it and 5% back on qualifying Best Buy purchases after that. Or, you can forego any rewards and instead get 0% deferred interest for 6-48 months on select purchases. But deferred interest is tricky. If you don’t pay your whole balance by the end of the 0% APR period, you owe all the interest that would have accrued during those months.

Generally, the best electronic store credit cards are those from retailers that sell electronics in addition to other goods. For example, the Target Credit Card and Walmart Store card offer great value. And the best overall store credit card for electronics has to be the Amazon Store card, which gives 5% back on every Amazon purchase and instantly loads a $10 gift card onto your account after approval. Amazon isn’t an electronics store per se, but it has more electronics than one.

There are a few other options of note, too. You can check out the particulars below.

Here are the best electronic store credit cards:

• Best Buy Store Card: $0 annual fee. 10% back in rewards (5 points per $1) on your first day of purchases. 5% back (2 points per $1) on other Best Buy purchases. Free shipping on $35+ online orders. Fair credit needed. If you have good credit, you can get the Best Buy Visa Credit Card and use it anywhere.
  

• Amazon Store Card: $0 annual fee. $10 Amazon gift card loaded to your account after approval. 5% back on Amazon purchases if you have an Amazon Prime membership. 0% deferred interest for 6-24 months. Fair credit needed. Works anywhere that accepts Amazon Pay. There’s also a Visa version for people with good credit or better.
  
• Walmart Store Card: $0 annual fee. $25 off your first Walmart purchase on the same day you’re approved. 3% back on Walmart.com purchases, 2% at Murphy USA and 1% at Walmart. Fair credit needed. Can only use at Walmart, Murphy USA or Sam’s Club. There’s also a Mastercard version for good credit.
  
• Synchrony HOME Card: $0 annual fee. Lets you shop at thousands of different retailers, including some electronics stores. Gives you access to cardholder-only sales and events. Offers 0% deferred interest at some stores for 6-60 months. Fair credit needed.
• Newegg Credit Card: $0 annual fee. Exclusive discounts for cardholders. 0% deferred interest for 6-36 months on certain products. Fair credit needed. Can only use at Newegg.com.
• P.C. Richard & Son Credit Card: $0 annual fee. 0% deferred interest for 6-72 months on certain products. Fair credit needed. Can only use at P.C. Richard & Son.
• Target Credit Card: $0 annual fee. 5% off all Target and Target.com purchases. Free 2-day shipping on Target.com purchases. 30-day extended returns. Fair credit needed. Can only use at Target.

In all, you’re going to find much better credit cards from big retailers that sell multiple things. Electronic store credit cards tend to not offer much other than deferred interest and the occasional discount. The Target and Amazon store cards are well worth your time. And if you have good credit, you may even want to consider the Amazon Credit Card, which you can use anywhere. It gives you a $50-$75 gift card upon approval and up to 5 points per $1 at Amazon.com; 2 on gas, groceries and drugstore purchases; and 1 on everything else.

A retail card is the same thing as a store card: a credit card you can only use at a certain retailer or group of retailers. Most retail cards have $0 annual fees, and many give 1% to 5%+ back in rewards for shopping at the stores they’re affiliated with. Some retail credit cards also offer 0% deferred-interest financing on eligible purchases.

Retail cards are pretty easy to get, usually requiring only fair credit (640+ credit score) for approval. They can help you build credit just as well as any other credit card because they report information to the major credit bureaus each month. But there are a number of things you should be aware of before applying.

Here’s How Retail Cards Work:

• A retail card is the same as a store card. It’s a card you can only use at a certain retailer. Or, you may be able to use it at several stores owned by the same parent company.
• A retail card is different from a co-branded card. A co-branded card is affiliated with and earns rewards at a certain retailer, but you can use the card anywhere.
• Retail cards may offer rewards in the form of cash back, points or discounts on purchases. But some retail cards offer no rewards at all.
• You will commonly get 0% deferred interest on a retail card. You have a set period where you pay no interest. At the end of that period, if your entire balance is paid off, you pay nothing. Otherwise, you owe all those months of interest at the normal interest rate.
• Retail cards usually require fair credit (640+ score) for approval. A co-branded card that you can use anywhere usually requires good credit (700+ score).
  

• Retail cards may give you other perks like free shipping or access to exclusive sales.
  

• Most retail cards have no annual fee.
  

• You may be able to check if you are pre-approved for a retail card. You could get a pop-up to check while shopping online. In-store, a cashier might invite you. If you are pre-approved, your chances of approval for the card are not 100%, but they are very high.  

A retail card may or may not be worthwhile. If it rewards you for shopping at a retailer you like and doesn’t charge an annual fee, you might want to consider applying. But if it only offers deferred interest, with no rewards, you can find better deals elsewhere.

Store credit cards work like regular consumer credit cards, in that you make purchases on the card, and you make payments on your purchases, either in full, or over time. The difference is, with a store credit card, you’re limited to purchases within the store or the store website.

The exception is a store card co-branded with a network such as Visa or Mastercard. You’ll still be eligible for any in-store discounts when you use the card, plus you’ll have the flexibility of using the card anywhere the card’s network is accepted.

Store credit cards come with advantages, and some pitfalls. You’ll have to assess how frequent you shop at the store, along with your spending habits and current credit profile before you apply.

Here are some store credit card advantages:

• Easy approval: Store cards typically require at least fair credit, making it easy to qualify. Co-branded store credit cards might be harder to get because of its added spending power. Expect most co-branded store cards to start out with a minimum of good credit.
• Builds and establishes credit: A store credit card is just that, a credit card. Any activity on the card should be reported to the major credit bureaus. Just be careful not to overspend at your favorite store, or you may end up damaging the very credit you’re trying to establish.
• Rewards and benefits: You can receive generous discounts on in-store purchases just by applying in the check-out line. You’ll also receive offers for other perks and benefits such as free shipping, no-hassle returns and exchanges, online discounts, and more, all when you use your card. Co-branded store cards get to cash in all the store perks, and may also earn rewards on purchases made outside of the store.

Here are some store credit card disadvantages:

• The debt trap: Your favorite store credit card is not an invitation to overspend. Be careful with “exclusive” sales events. Your intent might be to save a few bucks on sale items, but oftentimes, the tendency is to spend more, thinking the savings will offset the cost of the additional purchases. The reality is you’ll likely end up with more debt than you’d originally planned.
• Low credit limits: Don’t expect to have much spending power with a store credit card, especially if this is your first credit account. With a couple of quick purchases, you’ll easily end up burning up most of your available credit. That will push your utilization, or debt-to-credit ratio, to an unfavorable level. Try to  maintain a ratio of less than 30%. The higher your utilization, the less likely you’ll be eligible for credit limit increases or additional credit accounts.
• High interest rates: Store credit cards often charge significantly higher interest rates than regular credit cards. The average regular APR for store credit cards topped 28% in 2017, according to the WalletHub Store Card Landscape report. If you carry a balance or are overextended on your store credit card, the debt will mount quickly. Interest is calculated daily and starts accruing on the transaction. That interest is compounded, which means if you carry a balance, another wave of interest charges will pile on top of the interest accrued during the previous month.

Beware of any 0% financing promotions a store may offer when you make a large purchase on your store credit card. Hidden in that offer is something known as deferred interest, and it’s standard practice on most store credit cards. You charge a specific amount on your store credit card, and you’ll receive 0% interest if you pay off the balance in full in a specified number of months.

The problem is, you’re not really getting 0% interest in the traditional sense. That interest is “deferred,” meaning the only way you’ll get the 0% rate is if you pay the balance in full before the end of the promotion. Otherwise, even if leave a $1 balance when the promotion expires, all that interest you thought you were saving, interest charged to the original purchase amount, will be added to any unpaid balance.

You can fill out a Best Buy credit card application online or in store. The application is the same either way, and both methods offer the chance for instant approval. It can take up to 14 business days to get a decision in some cases. New applicants will get a card in the mail within 7-14 days of being approved for an account. Whether you apply in store or online, you can use the card as soon as you’re approved. Just make sure there are no other credit cards linked to your Best Buy account. If there are, you’ll be asked to enter a 3-digit security code during checkout, which you won’t have until you get the physical copy of the card.

To apply online, you must first create a BestBuy.com account. You’ll then get redirected to Citibank’s website (Citi issues the Best Buy credit card), where you can fill out a secure online application form. If your application is approved, Citibank will then determine which card you qualify for (the Best Buy store card or the Best Buy Visa) depending on your creditworthiness. The store card version is for applicants with credit scores of at least 640, while the Best Buy Visa requires a minimum score of 700. There is just one application for both cards.

To fill out a Best Buy credit card application in store, head to your nearest Best Buy location. Any cashier or customer service rep will be able to provide you with the application, and you should be able to complete it within a few minutes. Just like applying online, Citibank will decide if you qualify for the Best Buy store card or the Best Buy Visa card. Whether you apply in store or online, you can expect the card to arrive in the mail within 7-14 days if approved.

Regardless of where you fill it out, the application form is the same. Like most credit card applications, it asks the usual personal and financial questions, such as your income and how much debt you’re carrying.