JCP MASTERCARD

[tvandine]

For everyone wondering about the JCP Mastercard, this is from a chat with JCP Reguarding it:

There is a pre-selection process that we periodically review accounts to determine who will be offered an upgrade to Mastercard. ( Based on the overall credit rating and the ability to pay ) Once your account qualifies, you will receive a letter of notice informing you about it. Otherwise you can just apply for the Mastercard at the store.

[texasman07]

I have had my account since 2011 with a 4000.00 CL. Balance is 299.00$. I called today and asked if I had the offer, they said no.  THis is going to be closed!

[SunriseEarth]

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@tvandine wrote:

For everyone wondering about the JCP Mastercard, this is from a chat with JCP Reguarding it:

There is a pre-selection process that we periodically review accounts to determine who will be offered an upgrade to Mastercard. ( Based on the overall credit rating and the ability to pay ) Once your account qualifies, you will receive a letter of notice informing you about it. Otherwise you can just apply for the Mastercard at the store.

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I got that response nearly verbatim when I asked about it on chat when we first heard about this.

I still can't determine a pattern of who is getting the upgrades.  Some people who got upgrades used the card more often at CVS than at JCP (AFAIK, CVS will not accept JCP store cards after this month).  But some barely used the card at all.  Score seem to range from mid 600s and up, so I'm not even sure if that's a factor.   Then again, the Walmart upgrades seem a bit random, too.

[Anonymous]

I got a letter in the mail saying they were switching the account. The card should be coming sometime in August. My wife has better credit than me and didn't get the offer, so it seems to be random, at least to an extent. The only difference is that I was the one to most recently use the card for a purchase, but that was nearly a year ago.

[daybreakgonesXe]

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@tvandine wrote:

For everyone wondering about the JCP Mastercard, this is from a chat with JCP Reguarding it:

There is a pre-selection process that we periodically review accounts to determine who will be offered an upgrade to Mastercard. ( Based on the overall credit rating and the ability to pay ) Once your account qualifies, you will receive a letter of notice informing you about it. Otherwise you can just apply for the Mastercard at the store.

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I got the same exact response too when I asked...however, the one clarification is you cannot apply for the Mastercard in store (or, at least not yet). I went to JCP yesterday and chatted with some old coworkers...still same ol' plain vanilla store card apps!

[CreditUnionFan]

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@tvandine wrote:

For everyone wondering about the JCP Mastercard, this is from a chat with JCP Reguarding it:

There is a pre-selection process that we periodically review accounts to determine who will be offered an upgrade to Mastercard. ( Based on the overall credit rating and the ability to pay ) Once your account qualifies, you will receive a letter of notice informing you about it. Otherwise you can just apply for the Mastercard at the store.

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I see these postings periodically about a few of GE/Synchrony''s offerings, and if you think about it, does it make a lot of sense to even get the MC?

I suppose if you're rebuilding, there is a value, or trying to use them as a means to offset your UTIL because of a higher limit, but the rewards are sometimes "trapped".

JCP, TJX, TRU...  they all offer a store-only card, and a MC/Visa card, and the rewards work out to 1% on purchases outside of the chosen store. What's not factored in is that the rewards are then trapped inside that store. So, if you get R'Us bucks, you have to spend them in the store or online. Yesterday I went in to the store and was disappointed because a $29 toy at Amazon or Target was $33.99 at R'Us, meaning that 1% isn't really 1%. It felt rushed too, since the coupon I had expired on 7/31, for a card that I've had less than a year.

I turned down the upgrade from the TJX to the TJX MC. I figured that the two years added to the AAoA offset the possible benefit of a higher CL. As your credit file grows, there will be many MCs that offer cash rewards.

Oddly, I've not gotten an offer to upgrade from the JCP to the JCP MC. I sure hope that if they ever force me to take the MC, that they at least keep the AAoA intact.

If they offered me an upgrade from the Sams Club card to the Sams MC, I would be overjoyed because at least with that card there's a great reward structure in place, where there are none on the Sams-only card.

[SunriseEarth]

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@CreditUnionFan wrote:

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@tvandine wrote:

For everyone wondering about the JCP Mastercard, this is from a chat with JCP Reguarding it:

There is a pre-selection process that we periodically review accounts to determine who will be offered an upgrade to Mastercard. ( Based on the overall credit rating and the ability to pay ) Once your account qualifies, you will receive a letter of notice informing you about it. Otherwise you can just apply for the Mastercard at the store.

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I see these postings periodically about a few of GE/Synchrony''s offerings, and if you think about it, does it make a lot of sense to even get the MC?

I suppose if you're rebuilding, there is a value, or trying to use them as a means to offset your UTIL because of a higher limit, but the rewards are sometimes "trapped".

JCP, TJX, TRU...  they all offer a store-only card, and a MC/Visa card, and the rewards work out to 1% on purchases outside of the chosen store. What's not factored in is that the rewards are then trapped inside that store. So, if you get R'Us bucks, you have to spend them in the store or online. Yesterday I went in to the store and was disappointed because a $29 toy at Amazon or Target was $33.99 at R'Us, meaning that 1% isn't really 1%. It felt rushed too, since the coupon I had expired on 7/31, for a card that I've had less than a year.

I turned down the upgrade from the TJX to the TJX MC. I figured that the two years added to the AAoA offset the possible benefit of a higher CL. As your credit file grows, there will be many MCs that offer cash rewards.

Oddly, I've not gotten an offer to upgrade from the JCP to the JCP MC. I sure hope that if they ever force me to take the MC, that they at least keep the AAoA intact.

If they offered me an upgrade from the Sams Club card to the Sams MC, I would be overjoyed because at least with that card there's a great reward structure in place, where there are none on the Sams-only card.

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Another possible factor to consider in getting an upgrade to a cobranded card is that some lenders don't consider store cards in their decisions (i.e., Chase), so having a positive major CC would help in those types of decisions.  

[CreditUnionFan]

Hmmm, I hadn't thought about that, that the JCP/TRU/WM/SAMS would be considered as a true credit card as opposed to store only card. Although I keep my store cards because of the mix factor...  that FICO is supposed to like.