Store Cards

[MontegoMack]

I have a CU car loan, a couple of prime CCs (Chase Freedom and BofA 123 signature visa), a toy MC and a student loan. My utilization is as suggested - I keep on card at <10%. 

What would be the credit portfolio advangtage of having a store card?

[dodfire]

I have 1 store card... "Macys" that I got when I started rebuilding. Seeing that you are already in the PRIME cards I would not think it would be any type of advantage to getting a store card now. But I could be wrong......I will wait to see what others have to say. 

[dodgeball]

I agree with Dodfire on this one ! Your in primeville so need to go with a store card. The only Store card I think that may be worth its salt is the Nordstroms Siggy which really isnt a storecard just issued by Nordstroms bank !

[bs6054]

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@MontegoMack wrote:

I have a CU car loan, a couple of prime CCs (Chase Freedom and BofA 123 signature visa), a toy MC and a student loan. My utilization is as suggested - I keep on card at <10%. 

What would be the credit portfolio advangtage of having a store card?

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So, any new CL can decrease your utilization by increasing total credit line.  This is positive.

Negatives:

To get the card, you may need a HP, which will slightly decrease the score (goes away with time, mainly after 6 months, totally after a year)

Then a new account will also decrease the Average Age of Accounts, which if you don't have many accounts can be (somewhat) significant.

And the other positive is a very small effect, FICO considers diversity among credit types, and apparently having both store and bank cards adds a little diversity in the credit card category.

A good  reason for getting a store card is if it has some value to you, i.e. coupons/discounts/special offers that you can use at the store.

Others do it for the increased CL, as store cards can be much easier to get than bank cards.  You can see people here with loads of GE cards with increasing CLs.

[webhopper]

I personally dont think you need a store card, but it will improve your "mix" of credit.  Wal Mart is nice because of the free FICO.   Otherwise, don't bother getting a store card just for the sake of getting one because you really don't need one at this point.  Some store cards are nice because of 0% financing offers...

[09Lexie]

+1

[afbar1114]

it could be wise to get onejust for sales/coupons/ 0% as others have said. if your looking to buy a big ticket item lets say a $2k tv from Bestbuy the offer 0% for 18 months. that could save you A LOT of money in the long run. also i just went to kohls and saved 30 % because i had thier card total savings with sales and 30% off was $125. being "prime" is great but you also need to be smart about your money. if you could save $$$ everytime you shop somewhere just because you have thier card it could help a lot.  in the end its up to you. but just dont get any store card get something that you will benefit from like kohls with thier 15%-20%-20% off all the time on anything in the store. clothes get expenisve. 

[youngandcreditwrthy]

Imo,
Store cards are good for helping util- GECRB is very generous with limits- many GE store cards can grow into a Visa/MC/Discover/Amex version.


They offer 0% promos, like Walmart has a $599 electro purchase at0% for 24 mos!

They can help continue building credit. Store cards are NOT made for carrying a balance though! Always pif w them!

[injustifiiable]

I like the WFNNB ones since you can get them with a SP and once you get the first SP CLI after 9 months, you can get additional SP CLI's every 3 months or so.

I also don't mind them because I know I will always have at least 4 accounts reporting $0 balances every month...mainly because I have them at stores I rarely shop at.

Another store card I'd get is the Walmart one..I personally hate Walmart but I'd get one soley for the TU FICO score.

[09Lexie]

@ injustifiable

Re:Walmart +1000!