Store cards

[tbea1004]

I am trying to find out if it is good to have a store card or if store cards hurt your credit?

[AverageJoesCredit]

You are gonna get a whole bunch of differet answers as some believe they hurt others do not. It my humble opinion if a store card is something you have interest in, you will use and the rewards benefit you, no problems getting one. I wouldnt recommend getting a store card just because.... Thats how you get boggled down with useless cards. Truely research the store you have interest in to see if it benefits your lifestyle and or spend. Just my average 2 pennies ....not to be confused with JC Pennies

[fltireguy]

Some people will tell you that is a path to toy limit hell

It wasn't for me. I had a bunch of store cards a year ago, earlier in my rebuild. Now, I have 3, and I use them! And my major CC CL are from $2k-20k

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
You are gonna get a whole bunch of differet answers as some believe they hurt others do not. It my humble opinion if a store card is something you have interest in, you will use and the rewards benefit you, no problems getting one. I wouldnt recommend getting a store card just because.... Thats how you get boggled down with useless cards. Truely research the store you have interest in to see if it benefits your lifestyle and or spend. Just my average 2 pennies ....not to be confused with JC Pennies

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+1

I have read before that having a "store card" actually impacts one of the FICO models (I don't believe it was FICO 8 bankcard), but I'm not sure that was ever proven. I think the important thing to remember store card or not - applying for any type of card will have a lasting impact on your overall credit profile. The credit inquiry will last two years on your report and impact your score for the first 12 months. Some lenders are inquiry sensitive so this could hurt chances with that lender while the inquiry exists. It will permanently (at least 10 years+) lower your AAOA (read that as lower than what it would be without having ever applied for the card not what your current AAOA is. That will come back with time) This may or may not matter to you and the impact depends on your overall profile.

Many people get caught up and fixated on their credit score. Unless you are planning on applying for something that score really becomes irrelevant. Because of that, I strongly believe decisions should be made off what makes more financial sense. ie: 0% financing will allow you to keep your funds in the bank earning interest or have additional financial flexibility, but will increase your utilization and lower your credit score. I personally like free loans. Of course you don't want to go crazy with utilization as it will spook current lenders with they AR  and could cause an AA. 

So if you will get savings, convenience and use out of the store card, do it.

[Anonymous]

Amongst "normal" credit cards I also just got two store cards: the lowes store card (original sl $2,000, recon to $17,000) and the amazon store card (sl $2,000). My bf also got the lowes card and got it reconned to $17,000. I think both of those cards are great because we just bought a house and with lowes you can easily finance projects with low interest rates and with the amazon card you can always get 5% back (and if preferred also do low interest financing). Idk if these would hurt my scores but honestly the benefits would always outweigh that in my opinion. But as other people said, it just depends on what makes sense for you and your situation and I would also not get a bunch of store cards just for the sake of getting cards.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the OP. Store cards only make sense if you are going to benefit from the rewards and this is only going to happen if it is a store that you frequent.   I swore I would never "get in bed with" Comenity but they have two cards that I really felt I would benefit from.... the VS card and Williams Sonoma.  My limits are only $500 each but I shop at these stores ALL of the time. So for me the benefits and perks work for me. I hope I can grow these limits over time.

If these cards are "hurting" my score... it would be the impact on my AAoA.... but that is because the accounts are new... not because they are store cards with low limits. 

[Dalmus]

Store cards have a possible impact on your insurance rates, though.

[fltireguy]

Dalmus can you elaborate on that??

[Anonymous]

When I started my rebuilding I thought Comenity was great. Then I found this and some other credit forums and realized that having a ton of Comenity cards was not good. So I got rid of a majority of them. I have been fortunate to be able to get prime cards from Amex, Barclaycard, CapitalOne, Chase, FNBO, and others. Do I still have store cards? Yes, but only ones that I'll actually use and have benefits I want. No interest deals, discounts, rewards, and other perks. I have a few more I'll probably close, but my answer is yes, get a store card you can benefit from. Don't get one because you may use it in the future or because you can. For example, if you live in an apartment, you probably don't have a lot of use for Home Depot or Lowes. Not into hunting, fishing, or sports then Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, Dicks, or Gander Mountain wouldn't be a good idea. Love Kohl's and shop there regularly then yes. Amazon Prime member then the Amazon Prime card is great. Only get a few, ones you'll use regularly and unless they have an interest free deal, PIF. Store cards end to have the highest interest.