Which Retail Credit Card is the best one to apply with a Fair Credit Score

[Anonymous]

I have been improving my credit score for the last 6 months. I am up to a 650 credit score and I am trying to get to a good Fico Rating. I have no retail CC and I was wondering which one is the best one to apply for that has good ratings as well as it continues to help rebuild my credit score. 

[Remedios]

Hi and welcome to the forums

The best one would be the one for those stores you actually shop at. 

Which other cards do you have at this time? If you're uncertain on store cards, maybe there are different options available to you.

Also, where are you getting that 650 from? 

[Anonymous]

While usually I wouldn't get any store card since shopping trends may change over time (i.e. popularity of Best Buy over the years), if you were going to get one I'd consider the Amazon store card (not the Chase Amazon Prime Visa Sig if you're a thin file). I only recommend it because you can buy necessities with it (groceries, for example) at 5% back, and doesn't requires as much of a file as the Amazon Prime Visa Sig. 

What cards do you currently have?

It also depends on where you actually shop at, too, as @Remedios mentioned.

[ocheosa]

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@Anonymous wrote:

While usually I wouldn't get any store card since shopping trends may change over time (i.e. popularity of Best Buy over the years), if you were going to get one I'd consider the Amazon store card (not the Chase Amazon Prime Visa Sig if you're a thin file). I only recommend it because you can buy necessities with it (groceries, for example) at 5% back, and doesn't requires as much of a file as the Amazon Prime Visa Sig. 

What cards do you currently have?

It also depends on where you actually shop at, too, as @Remedios mentioned.

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+1 Agree with the Amazon Card. Also, if you are a homeowner, Lowe's is a great pick up! Lowe's grows much faster than the other Synchrony retail cards. Of course not knowing your credit profile,  YMMV. 

[GApeachy]

Also, there are two "emergency" store cards offered by Synchrony you might want to have as a back up.  Car Care (depending on the shape of your vehicle, tires, maintenance) and Care Credit (again depending on the shape of your BODY, pets, maintenance) that offer (like Lowe's) a Promotional purchase and a Deferred Interest purchase.

Plus Care Credit can be used at Walmart and other stores- swipe first, pay to Care Credit in 30 days or longer with int. if needed but does include things like shampoo, bandaids, medicines, etc.

Both of these cards limits grow pretty quickly too ymmv of course.

[Anonymous]

If you have Amazon Prime, then Amazon Store Card is a no-brainer pick. If not, Target is good but it doesn't grow as fast as Synchrony will grow that Amazon card. 

[Loquat]

If you own a home maybe Lowe's wouldn't be a bad option. I absolutely love my Lowe's card...probably one of my favorites over many of my majors.

[randomguy1]

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@ocheosa wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

While usually I wouldn't get any store card since shopping trends may change over time (i.e. popularity of Best Buy over the years), if you were going to get one I'd consider the Amazon store card (not the Chase Amazon Prime Visa Sig if you're a thin file). I only recommend it because you can buy necessities with it (groceries, for example) at 5% back, and doesn't requires as much of a file as the Amazon Prime Visa Sig. 

What cards do you currently have?

It also depends on where you actually shop at, too, as @Remedios mentioned.

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+1 Agree with the Amazon Card. Also, if you are a homeowner, Lowe's is a great pick up! Lowe's grows much faster than the other Synchrony retail cards. Of course not knowing your credit profile,  YMMV. 

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Came in here to say just this. I would avoid most retail cards if the savings can be duplicated long term by a non-store card. The Chase Amazon or AMEX Biz Amazon cards sound like great additions as well as Lowes. There's the Target card as well but that can be duplicated with their Debit Red Card. Since I want to get into the Chase UR system, I am mindful of the speed my credit applications to stay below their 5/24 rule. If you have similar goals as well and want to get into a specific rewards ecosystems such as Citi's TY points, Chase UR, or AMEX MR, etc., I suggest you be mindful of your application strategies as well when rebuilding.

I recommend you make  a 2-3 year roadmap of what your credit goals are (which includes auto\mortgage). Certain lenders are subject to different underwriting guidelines that can be sensitive to new cards, amount of inquiries, etc.. BofA, Citi, Barclays, US Bank, and Chase are some lenders. 

I highly suggest reading the following link below and the other links in the post about the other lenders. A lot of us apply to credit cards without specific strategy at first and would like a do-over. 

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/18-things-everybody-should-know-about-chase/

[MyFault]

No retail cards are the best to apply for imo. Because spending habits change over time. And especially if you're new to credit, you don't want one of your first cards to close because you no longer shop at that retail store. You want a keeper card that will grow your account history, and continue to offer benefit over the long haul.

That being said, Amazon is not going anywhere and if you're a Prime member then the Chase Amazon Prime card, Amex Business Prime, or Amazon Prime store card is a great card to have that offer real benefits.
Lowe's is the only other card i could potentially recommend, depending on if you're a homeowner and/or if you shop at lowe's often. I personally prefer Lowe's over HD and would love the util padding of their card, as well as 5% back the card provides.

If you think a retail card will improve your score, you don't NEED a retail card. You just need to continue to grow your current cards history and make sure you pay on time and keep baddies off your report. There are people with 1 card, in the upper 700's with the right amount of history. If you absolutely want another card, again, i would recommend something that isn't specific to one retailer and that will provide overall cash back/points.

[OmarGB9]

I would honestly highly recommend against any store cards, with the exception of maybe Lowe's since those can grow quickly and help with utilization. But in general, regular bank cards are more versatile and give similar rewards which aren't tied to one specific store.