Picking between Stores that offer both Credit Cards and Charge Accounts?

[Anonymous]

Hello there! I have been a long-time lurker on myFICO forums for the past few years. I am a graduate student in my late twenties presently working on rebuilding my credit. I have been able to drastically improve it from TU 542 to 650. I still have about 3-4 more years till I'm done with my program and look into purchasing my first home and a new car. I am hoping that my score can get up to 770 and beyond.

I have two major credit cards with limits totaling to $10K. I also have some charge accounts with stores that I don't carry balances on (I use them solely for discounts).

I am planning on applying for another store card within the year in order to increase my credit limits. I am interested in applying for the products that Amazon offer, they have your typical store credit as well as a Mastercard. My intention would be to use the card for only purchases with Amazon. I expect people to state that it is always better to have accounts with major credit card companies rather than store cards due to their sub-prime interest rates but keep in mind, I don't plan to keep balances on these cards. Plus, I do like the idea of having a card exclusive to that store and only that store as to reduce the possibility of having a higher credit utilization.

Also, I go months without carrying a balance on my store cards compared to my credit cards where I like to keep a balance in order to keep them active. I know that store cards are a lot less likely to close those accounts compared to a bank credit card. For instance, I've only used one of my store cards for a purchase a year and a half ago and they actually increased my credit line in the past six months. But I also understand that I am less likely to have as large of a credit limit with those accounts.

Any advice on this matter? I notice there are other companies that also have both products such as Walmart, ULTA, Forever21, and Ann Taylor.

[Anonymous]

Hi, I used to have the Amazon Store card (not co-branded with a major card company) and I really liked it. I used it quite a bit and didn't carry much of a balance. It was closed by credit grantor in BK. I doubt that I will pursue an Amazon card again because with my Discover It 5% Cashback I get 5% back at Amazon for 6 months out of the year. I am learning from reading this forum that credit cards are subjective in that what is useful for one person may not be useful for the next person. I am now "targeting" only those cards which I know will be useful or benefit me the most. If the Amazon Store card will be useful and benefit you, then you should go for it!

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi, I used to have the Amazon Store card (not co-branded with a major card company) and I really liked it. I used it quite a bit and didn't carry much of a balance. It was closed by credit grantor in BK. I doubt that I will pursue an Amazon card again because with my Discover It 5% Cashback I get 5% back at Amazon for 6 months out of the year. I am learning from reading this forum that credit cards are subjective in that what is useful for one person may not be useful for the next person. I am now "targeting" only those cards which I know will be useful or benefit me the most. If the Amazon Store card will be useful and benefit you, then you should go for it!

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+1

OP, if you are an Amazon Prime member (and presumably a heavy year round Amazon shopper), the store card is one of the best values out there for Amazon (if you pay in full and thus don't worry about APIs).   The Chase version is much less compelling.

Store cards aren't loved on this forum, but (apart from the usually high APR) that's mainly because a lot of people got "trash" store cards through the Shopping Cart Trick etc, early on in building/rebuilding, which they later regret.   But a store card that offers good rewards at a place you do a lot of shopping can certainly beat out a run-of-the-mill bank credit card.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Agree with above posters, Amazon store card with Prime a great card to have if you like a store card as such. Other plus is you can usualy get nice workable limit with Sync banks Credit Solutions once approved. Good luck