The
CareCredit Credit Card is a decent credit card for people with
fair credit or better who want to finance medical expenses with a participating retailer or health care provider. The card is accepted at more than 270,000 locations, some of which may have promotional financing offers, and it does not charge an annual fee. It probably shouldn’t be your first choice, though.
If you don’t get a promotional financing offer and you decide to carry a balance from month to month, you will have to pay interest at the
CareCredit Credit Card’s high regular APR (
32.99%). Similarly, if you get a financing offer that has a deferred-interest clause and you don’t pay off your full balance on schedule, you will retroactively owe interest at the regular APR, dating back to the original purchase. So, you should probably
explore alternatives before deciding to apply.
What I Like About the CareCredit Credit Card
$0 annual fee
The
CareCredit Credit Card does not have to cost you a thing. Whether you simply maintain a $0 balance or you pay the bill in full every month, you can benefit from owning the card without paying more than you would otherwise. In contrast, the average annual fee among credit card offers right now is
$27.85 per year, and plenty of credit cards charge a lot more than that.
That said, a $0 annual fee is expected among cards intended for financing. For example, credit cards with 0% introductory APRs usually don’t charge annual fees.
Credit limit as high as $25,000
The
CareCredit Credit Card’s credit limit can be as high as $25,000, according to cardholder reports, but there’s no minimum specified in the card’s terms. The limit you’ll be assigned if you get approved depends on your overall creditworthiness, including your credit history, income and existing debt.
Works at popular retailers
In addition to paying eligible doctors, dentists, veterinarians, etc., you can use the
CareCredit Credit Card to make purchases from Walgreens and Rite Aid. Health, wellness and personal care items from Walmart and Sam’s Club count, too. Other partners include BowFlex, Sleep Number, GoodRX and more.
The downside, however, is that you can’t use the
CareCredit Credit Card just anywhere. It doesn’t belong to a major network like Visa or Mastercard, after all. There is a separate CareCredit Mastercard, though.
Getable with fair credit
You don’t need a perfect credit score to get this card. In fact, a score of
640 or higher should give you good odds of approval for the
CareCredit Credit Card, as long as you have enough income to afford the monthly bill payments along with your other financial obligations.
You can
check your credit score for free right here on WalletHub to see if you’re likely to qualify.
Can help you build credit
The
CareCredit Credit Card reports account information to the three major credit bureaus each month. This gives you the opportunity to add positive information to your credit reports and thus improve your credit score.
Most importantly, you need to pay at least the minimum amount required by the due date every month. You should also try to keep your balance as low as possible to minimize your
credit utilization.
What I Don’t Like About the CareCredit Credit Card
32.99% APR
The
CareCredit Credit Card’s regular APR is quite high, making financing health care expenses very costly. Even the average credit card offer has a much lower interest rate, at
22.35%. So do cards for people with fair credit, which average
27.36% for their regular APR.
With these comparisons in mind, you should explore alternative options before deciding to apply for the
CareCredit Credit Card. People with good-to-excellent credit can get credit cards with
attractive 0% APR promotions. Folks with fair credit might be able to grab such an offer, too.
No rewards
Many credit cards designed for financing offer rewards on purchases in addition to a low interest rate. The
CareCredit Credit Card is not one of them, so you won’t earn cash back, points or miles in return for making purchases. The lack of rewards costs you at least 1% compared to other cards and a lot more relative to the
best deals. For instance, medical expenses could help you earn an
initial bonus worth hundreds of dollars.
Deferred-interest promotions
Health care providers partnered with the
CareCredit Credit Card may offer
deferred-interest financing plans to cardholders. If you don’t have any other good options and you can pay off your full expense before the promotional period ends, this kind of offer could work out alright. But if you don’t pay on time, you could end up with retroactive interest charges at the regular APR, dating back to the purchase date. In that scenario, you’d be left with very expensive debt, like the initial deal was never there.
So, if you decide to apply for this card and you accept a financing offer, make sure to use a
credit card calculator to plan out the necessary monthly payments.
Note: This review is not provided, commissioned or endorsed by any issuer. Opinions and ratings are our own.
