topic Re: Retail Card Necessary? in Credit Cards

Retail Card Necessary?

Kinglord — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 03:39:56 GMT

hi all,

Ive dont a good job, or at least I think at the rebound of Credit Cards. I recently paid off my car loan. Are Store Retail cards really necesarry for an improved profile?

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

FireMedic1 — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 11:31:38 GMT

Its up to the user. If you'll benefit with more perks than any of your other cards would offer and you shop there often. No harm. But insurance scores dont care for them its been said. Personally store cards are for new rebuilders. Nice rack of cards BTW.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Kinglord — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 23:14:13 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
Its up to the user. If you'll benefit with more perks than any of your other cards would offer and you shop there often. No harm. But insurance scores dont care for them its been said. Personally store cards are for new rebuilders. Nice rack of cards BTW.

I really appreciate that! You probably dont know but have responded to many of my older posts in my rebuiding days. I have followed your posts and advice for many people I am sure I speak for many of the community, "Thank you!"

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Rudy1 — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 03:03:47 GMT

You certainly have done a good job in your rebound! Those cards are some good ones. It really depends on how they would help you. For example I have an Amazon Prime Store Card because it earn 5% back at Amazon which I shop at regularly. I also have a Target RedCard though it is a Mastercard I only use it at Target because it earns 5% back. The other store card I have that I think is really valuable for a lot of people is the Lowes Card 5% back for everything and Sync will give out large limits though don't poke them.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

ChargedUp — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 03:11:26 GMT

@Kinglord wrote:
hi all,
Ive dont a good job, or at least I think at the rebound of Credit Cards. I recently paid off my car loan. Are Store Retail cards really necesarry for an improved profile?

You have a nice array of cards from prime lenders. I don't think store cards are going to help your scores if that's what you are asking. Unless you're going to reap some large benefits from a retailer that you frequent, I'd stay with the majors as you've done so far. 😎👍

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

805orbust — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 05:51:35 GMT

You are in great shape. I dumped all that I had years ago from my rebuild Save for the Lowe's card. If it's not a co-brand I'm not interested.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Kinglord — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 06:11:22 GMT

@805orbust wrote:
You are in great shape. I dumped all that I had years ago from my rebuild Save for the Lowe's card. If it's not a co-brand I'm not interested.

Thank you! Impressive collection yourself, any advice on where to go from here? Ive been getting the PenFed invites in the mail but was unfamilair.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

FireMedic1 — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 11:11:44 GMT

@Kinglord wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:
Its up to the user. If you'll benefit with more perks than any of your other cards would offer and you shop there often. No harm. But insurance scores dont care for them its been said. Personally store cards are for new rebuilders. Nice rack of cards BTW.
I really appreciate that! You probably dont know but have responded to many of my older posts in my rebuiding days. I have followed your posts and advice for many people I am sure I speak for many of the community, "Thank you!"

Cool! Thanks @Kinglord and just passing it on like others did for me in my rebuild days. Not to jump on another poster. Nothing wrong with PENFED. Being a credit union they'll hand out lower APR cards and higher limits. Especially with the the herd you got. I'd go for that over store cards anyday and twice on Sunday. Good Luck and let us know how it goes. Happy Bird Day!

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

805orbust — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 15:00:30 GMT

I absolutely second @FireMedic1 on Penfed. I am very happy with them. They gave me my first 5 digit limit and great rate on my Pandemic induced car loan 😉 They also have the best customer service.

Back when I rebuilt, I was a bit impatient. And I LOVED the thrill of approval. I still do, however, in hindsight it's clear to me that it was unnecessary. All of my co-branded cards are on the chopping block now. I got them early when I didn't qualify for high limits. In hindsight I'd go for quality and growth. You have a great list, and great limits. Imho Penfed would be a great addition, and I'd work on growing your cards. (Easier to do with NFCU and Amex of course)

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

SouthJamaica — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 15:04:38 GMT

@Kinglord wrote:
hi all,
Ive dont a good job, or at least I think at the rebound of Credit Cards. I recently paid off my car loan. Are Store Retail cards really necesarry for an improved profile?

No, retail cards are not necessary for an improved profile.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Guyatthebeach — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 02:58:25 GMT

Kinglord,

Given the portfolio of solid cards you have now, you honestly don't need any store cards to improve your Fico score. Now if you and your wife like to shop and pay those bills in full, I would definitely look into retail cards for the discounts and other perks. I have several and they all get paid in full when the bill arrives. As a matter of fact my Belk and Target store cards got upgraded to the Mastercard version.

Update: This post was updated to reflect Belk and Target Mastercard.

Guyatthebeach

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

FinStar — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 02:17:00 GMT

@Guyatthebeach wrote:
Kinglord,

Given the portfolio of solid cards you have now, you honestly don't need any store cards to improve your Fico score. Now if you and your wife like to shop and pay those bills in full, I would definitely look into retail cards for the discounts and other perks. I have several and they all get paid in full when the bill arrives. As a matter of fact my Belk and Target store cards got upgraded to the Mastercard and Visa versions.

Just a bit off-topic as far as the retail CCs you mentioned. Can you clalify the bolded piece @Guyatthebeach? Belk's doesn't upgrade to Visa and we know the Target RedCard can be upgraded to MC. So did you get that mixed up? Belk's has the store and MC versions only (not Visa). When did you get the Belk's upgrade btw? Asking for @UncleB.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Guyatthebeach — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 02:56:23 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
@Guyatthebeach wrote:
Kinglord,

Given the portfolio of solid cards you have now, you honestly don't need any store cards to improve your Fico score. Now if you and your wife like to shop and pay those bills in full, I would definitely look into retail cards for the discounts and other perks. I have several and they all get paid in full when the bill arrives. As a matter of fact my Belk and Target store cards got upgraded to the Mastercard and Visa versions.
Just a bit off-topic as far as the retail CCs you mentioned. Can you clalify the bolded piece @Guyatthebeach? Belk's doesn't upgrade to Visa and we know the Target RedCard can be upgraded to MC. So did you get that mixed up? Belk's has the store and MC versions only (not Visa). When did you get the Belk's upgrade btw? Asking for @UncleB.

FinStar,

You're right! Belk is a Mastercard. It was upgraded from the store card in either September or October to the MC version. I actually have only used mine card once since it upgraded. The better half uses it regularly. I got a small CLI from 7500 to 8000. The store card issue date and payment history carried over to the new account. FYI the Belk MC reports to TU as Synch/Belk Dual card.

When I was making the post, I was talking to Mrs. Guyatthebeach about South Jamaica's BECU credit card experience. We were talking about applying for a Heloc and a Visa with them. I'm on the fence on it, because I have read a lot people have to go through a lot with BECU's verification department.

Guyatthebeach

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

UncleB — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 03:23:50 GMT

@Guyatthebeach wrote:

@FinStar wrote:
@Guyatthebeach wrote:
Kinglord,

Given the portfolio of solid cards you have now, you honestly don't need any store cards to improve your Fico score. Now if you and your wife like to shop and pay those bills in full, I would definitely look into retail cards for the discounts and other perks. I have several and they all get paid in full when the bill arrives. As a matter of fact my Belk and Target store cards got upgraded to the Mastercard and Visa versions.
Just a bit off-topic as far as the retail CCs you mentioned. Can you clalify the bolded piece @Guyatthebeach? Belk's doesn't upgrade to Visa and we know the Target RedCard can be upgraded to MC. So did you get that mixed up? Belk's has the store and MC versions only (not Visa). When did you get the Belk's upgrade btw? Asking for @UncleB.
FinStar,

You're right! Belk is a Mastercard. It was upgraded from the store card in either September or October to the MC version. I actually have only used mine card once since it upgraded. The better half uses it regularly. I got a small CLI from 7500 to 8000. The store card issue date and payment history carried over to the new account. FYI the Belk MC reports to TU as Synch/Belk Dual card.

When I was making the post, I was talking to Mrs. Guyatthebeach about South Jamaica's BECU credit card experience. We were talking about applying for a Heloc and a Visa with them. I'm on the fence on it, because I have read a lot people have to go through a lot with BECU's verification department.

Guyatthebeach

Thanks for the tag, @FinStar!

And @Guyatthebeach, thank for the data point about the Belk PLCC upgrading to the Dual Card/MasterCard version... as far as I know, this is the first we've heard on here of an upgrade on the Belk card.

Here's hoping a Belk upgrade will find its way to me! <fingers crossed>

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

FinStar — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 03:26:08 GMT

@Guyatthebeach wrote:

@FinStar wrote:
@Guyatthebeach wrote:
Kinglord,

Given the portfolio of solid cards you have now, you honestly don't need any store cards to improve your Fico score. Now if you and your wife like to shop and pay those bills in full, I would definitely look into retail cards for the discounts and other perks. I have several and they all get paid in full when the bill arrives. As a matter of fact my Belk and Target store cards got upgraded to the Mastercard and Visa versions.
Just a bit off-topic as far as the retail CCs you mentioned. Can you clalify the bolded piece @Guyatthebeach? Belk's doesn't upgrade to Visa and we know the Target RedCard can be upgraded to MC. So did you get that mixed up? Belk's has the store and MC versions only (not Visa). When did you get the Belk's upgrade btw? Asking for @UncleB.
FinStar,

You're right! Belk is a Mastercard. It was upgraded from the store card in either September or October to the MC version. I actually have only used mine card once since it upgraded. The better half uses it regularly. I got a small CLI from 7500 to 8000. The store card issue date and payment history carried over to the new account. FYI the Belk MC reports to TU as Synch/Belk Dual card.

When I was making the post, I was talking to Mrs. Guyatthebeach about South Jamaica's BECU credit card experience. We were talking about applying for a Heloc and a Visa with them. I'm on the fence on it, because I have read a lot people have to go through a lot with BECU's verification department.

Guyatthebeach

Thanks @Guyatthebeach. We don't see very many upgrades to the Belk MC so I was just curious since you mentioned it. UncleB has the store version and I have the MC.

One last question, can you confirm whether your upgraded Belk MC reports as one or two separate tradelines on your CRs? There was a recent change with how CareCredit [upgraded MCs] report. And, because DPs help the community, I wanted to confirm whether the history carried over to the MC from your store account or whether SYNCB closed the store version and the MC started reporting as a new account.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Guyatthebeach — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 22:27:52 GMT

FinStar,

The Belk MC reports as a single trade line. It also lists all the payment history, account history, and the original issue of the store card all carried over.

Hope this helps!

Guyatthebeach

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 11:36:08 GMT

Did someone utter the name Synchrony? I thought I heard a bear growling in the distance.

Insurance scores factor in the ratio of Retail(Closed Loop) to Bank Cards in your profile. Theory being Retail card heavy consumers tend to have lower income profiles and higher percentage of derogs making them more prone to bust out or fraud. If you were born on a Tuesday that may cause some issues as well.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 16:47:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Insurance scores factor in the ratio of Retail(Closed Loop) to Bank Cards in your profile. Theory being Retail card heavy consumers tend to have lower income profiles and higher percentage of derogs making them more prone to bust out or fraud. If you were born on a Tuesday that may cause some issues as well.

I didn't know an explanation was ever given, just empirical experience-based correlation. Derogs would appear anyway in other parts of the credit report.

As for Tuesday births, well that's obvious. 100% of major and minor fraudsters in the last 100 years were born on a Tuesday plus/minus 3 days

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 15:53:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

Insurance scores factor in the ratio of Retail(Closed Loop) to Bank Cards in your profile. Theory being Retail card heavy consumers tend to have lower income profiles and higher percentage of derogs making them more prone to bust out or fraud. If you were born on a Tuesday that may cause some issues as well.
I didn't know an explanation was ever given, just empirical experience-based correlation. Derogs would appear anyway in other parts of the credit report.

To be more clear, a higher potential of derogs not yet appearing already.

Re: Retail Card Necesarry?

Drifter73 — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 17:55:55 GMT

I see a lot of people saying that a retail card isn't necessary, however I also read everywhere that creditors/banks prefer a diversified file/portfolio with different types of credit lines/loans for better scoring and considerations.

E.g., open loop, closed loop, cobranded, branded, retail store, gas station, bank, cu, fintech, mortgage, car, personal, etc...

The suggested mix versus the advice to not mix is a bit conflicting.

Granted, I fully agree one should only app for credit lines they will actually use, rather than sock drawer.