topic Re: Do charge cards still exist? in Credit Cards

Do charge cards still exist?

rgd51 — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 09:31:32 GMT

I have 1 charge card (Sinclair) that doesn't report to credit bureaus so it is a hidden account. I know of the Amex charge cards as well. Any other charge cards out there? Any other cards that stay hidden and don't report to the credit bureaus?

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

FinStar — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 16:36:55 GMT

@rgd51 wrote:
I have 1 charge card (Sinclair) that doesn't report to credit bureaus so it is a hidden account. I know of the Amex charge cards as well. Any other charge cards out there? Any other cards that stay hidden and don't report to the credit bureaus?

There's still a few around. Unfortunately, some of the former Diners Club/Carte Blanche personal cards (still in circulation) are no longer available for apps.

IIRC, the Peter Luger Steakhouse charge card is still around (don't know if it reports or not - someone will have to chime in on this). There's still some gas cards and retail cards as well, but they report to CRs.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

K-in-Boston — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 16:39:40 GMT

I know there was a department store that had a charge card that was mentioned here a few years back; can't recall the name. PayPal Credit/BillMeLater was a hidden revolving trade line for about 20 years until it was sold to Synchrony. I believe all US-issued Diners Club cards were converted to MasterCard revolving products, but those were historically charge cards.

If you want charge and mostly hidden, there are of course the Amex business versions of Green, Gold, and Platinum. Their business revolving products are the same; they won't report to your consumer credit bureau reports unless they become delinquent.

Edit: I forgot about the steakhouse! Good call, FinStar.

Edit 2: Definitely some fleet gas cards. And also forgot about Blispay originally being a hidden revolver.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

rgd51 — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 19:15:03 GMT

Those cards you mention I've never heard of. It seems cards like the sinclair one are a dying breed and that almost everything reports to the bureaus these days. The sinclair card isn't that rewarding because even though it has no AF it has no sign up bonus or rewards and even though some sinclair stations give discounts, not all stations do and the ones that do can be as little as 5 cents which many regular credit cards give higher cash back on gas than that.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

Mr_Mojo_Risin — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 19:59:48 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@rgd51 wrote:
I have 1 charge card (Sinclair) that doesn't report to credit bureaus so it is a hidden account. I know of the Amex charge cards as well. Any other charge cards out there? Any other cards that stay hidden and don't report to the credit bureaus?
There's still a few around. Unfortunately, some of the former Diners Club/Carte Blanche personal cards (still in circulation) are no longer available for apps.

IIRC, the Peter Luger Steakhouse charge card is still around (don't know if it reports or not - someone will have to chime in on this). There's still some gas cards and retail cards as well, but they report to CRs.

We had a member a month or 2 back with a Peter Luger approval.

@californiaboy935 possibly they'll stop back by and add that DP.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

rgd51 — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 20:08:20 GMT

Why do the Amex charge cards report to the credit bureaus? Not seeing the point since they usually aren't revolving agreements.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

digitek — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 20:36:09 GMT

Charge cards used to be more popular but as you can see they are few and far between anymore with the Amex Green/Gold/Plat being the most famous and still offered.

There are fringe cases to want a charge card over a standard revolving CC. Even the Amex charge cards have features like pay over time that have then act like revolvers and carry a balance.

The way charge cards are calculated into credit scoring is actually a pain in the butt. They offer no real advantages in that department and if anything make things more complicated.

If you want a card that doesn't show up on personal CR's then look to Amex business cards. (K mentioned this up-thread mods so don't lambast me for it!)

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

FinStar — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 21:02:01 GMT

@rgd51 wrote:
Why do the Amex charge cards report to the credit bureaus? Not seeing the point since they usually aren't revolving agreements.

It's still a loan on plastic @rgd51 even if charges are due monthly (unless a cardholder decides to place eligible transactions under the Pay Over Time/Plan It feature).

Some lenders used to have the option of not reporting tradelines (unless a delinquency occured), but a charge card still reports a "high balance" metric and it's still factored under AAoA. Plus, if and individual decides to exercise the POT feature, the revolving aspect of that balance would report, IIRC.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

Horseshoez — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 21:30:26 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
If you want charge and mostly hidden, there are of course the Amex business versions of Green, Gold, and Platinum. Their business revolving products are the same; they won't report to your consumer credit bureau reports unless they become delinquent.

So this begs the question, I have a credit card from my company which displays my company's logo, the card is issued by Citi, it does function as a "Revolver", and has a $10,000 credit limit on it. When I got it, right in the middle of my Chapter 13, I did need to fill out what looked like a regular credit card application, using my SSN and everything, and then wait for approval. Since I got it there have been hundreds of charges totalling tens of thousands of dollars, but not one hint that card's existence shows up on any of my credit reports.

Does my experience with the Citi card mean it is an essential functional equivalent of the AMEX business cards?

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

FinStar — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 21:45:19 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
If you want charge and mostly hidden, there are of course the Amex business versions of Green, Gold, and Platinum. Their business revolving products are the same; they won't report to your consumer credit bureau reports unless they become delinquent.

So this begs the question, I have a credit card from my company which displays my company's logo, the card is issued by Citi, it does function as a "Revolver", and has a $10,000 credit limit on it. When I got it, right in the middle of my Chapter 13, I did need to fill out what looked like a regular credit card application, using my SSN and everything, and then wait for approval. Since I got it there have been hundreds of charges totalling tens of thousands of dollars, but not one hint that card's existence shows up on any of my credit reports.

Does my experience with the Citi card mean it is an essential functional equivalent of the AMEX business cards?

Similar. There's a plethora of Corporate Card programs offered by most major FIs like AmEx, Chase, Citi, BoA, Diners Club Int'l, etc. But, Corporate Card programs are not going to report those individual tradelines to traditional business CRs, such as D&B, EQ biz, EX biz, for example.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

rgd51 — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 01:30:35 GMT

I had asked a customer service agent at sinclair why they don't report to credit bureaus and she said it's because it is a charge card. It's an HP from Transunion when you apply but when the account opens they never report it. I guess the sinclair card is a dying breed? Since I can only buy sinclair gas with it, I couldn't imagine someone running up a high balance on the card.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

FinStar — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 01:57:23 GMT

@rgd51 wrote:
I had asked a customer service agent at sinclair why they don't report to credit bureaus and she said it's because it is a charge card. It's an HP from Transunion when you apply but when the account opens they never report it. I guess the sinclair card is a dying breed? Since I can only buy sinclair gas with it, I couldn't imagine someone running up a high balance on the card.

More or less, it's up to the lender to report the tradeline if it's part of their SOP and/or how they manage their credit portfolio. It could be driven by costs, product philosophy or other factors. That said, there's a other companies who have revolving CC products that do not report to the CRAs (unless a delinquency were to occur). For example, John Deere, Tiffany's, etc.

So, it's not just because it's charge card per se (using your Sinclair example), it's how the product was developed, how it functions and the FI.

Another item to keep in mind, not many individuals are flocking to obtain a Sinclair CC. Most folks who prefer a decent return on their spending or lifestyle are going to use a CC product that provides a better yield on rewards, cashback, etc.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

Horseshoez — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 02:09:35 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
Another item to keep in mind, not many individuals are flocking to obtain a Sinclair CC. Most folks who prefer a decent return on their spending or lifestyle are going to use a CC product that provides a better yield on rewards, cashback, etc.

But, but, but..., if it's the Sinclair gas station I remember from my youth in Michigan back in the early 1960s, that dinosaur is just too cool. If it is on the credit card, I want one, even though the closest Sinclair station is over 40 miles from me and the next closest one is over 200 miles beyond that.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

rgd51 — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 03:30:21 GMT

I got the sinclair card because at the time nearly all of the sinclair stations in the Salt Lake City area gave 13 per gallon off at the pump when using the card. Even before the discount they were the best priced stations in the area other than Costco and Sam's club. No bank credit card could off that much cash back on gas so getting the card was a good decision at the time. A few months ago they all reduced their discount to 5 cents per gallon at the pump. I get better cash back on gas at 2% back on my chase amazon visa than that and I know of credit cards that offer a higher rate of gash back for gas than that. Now the card is almost never used except if I'm on a road trip and see a sinclair station that gives 10 cents off which I see on occasion. I just continue to keep the card because it looks cool with that awesome dinosaur logo and the fact I have one of the last few charge cards as well as cards that don't report to credit bureaus.

Re: Do charge cards still exist?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 07:11:06 GMT

Tomo Mastercard card, Kwik Fill charge card and DOC charge card (consumer card) are personal charge cards. There are many business charge cards.