Target RedCard Upgrade?

[disdreamin]

Offering another data point on this. My RedCard just celebrated its 10th birthday last month. I was approved 12/2011 for a $3k SL and immediately charged $2500 on it for holiday gifts. Throughout the years I've charged many thousands of dollars on the card, it's used every month and I don't practice AZEO or anything so it almost always reports a balance.

My CL has grown to $4600 but no conversion to MC has every happened. Household income has roughly tripled since I opened the card and it's kept updated, and my FICO 8 scores are consistently in the 800's.

As far as I can tell from my experience, there's no rhyme or reason to the MC conversions. I don't care much either way, as my real reason for getting the card was the 5% savings on purchases, but it's a little perplexing why it's never happened.

[NoMoreE46]

@disdreamin ,

Cardholder for over 10 years and more than $4,000 limit but not a MC yet.   It does seem perplexing.  

[FalconSteve]

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@NoMoreE46 wrote:

@disdreamin ,

Cardholder for over 10 years and more than $4,000 limit but not a MC yet.   It does seem perplexing.  

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I've seen some people say they convert at $4k, but most seem to say $5k. Are you regularly updating income, reporting statement balances? How is you FICO? Any baddies?

[Anonymous]

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@TheRedHat wrote:

Why do people want a high credit limit on this card or for it to upgrade to a Mastercard? To the best of my knowledge, the card has no rewards/bonuses outside of Target. With an APR over 20%, if you carry a balance it would cancel out any initial discount you may have had.  

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Others have given reasons.   My personal preference would be to put very little effort into trying/worrying about conversation (as the gain is very small) but .....     If the only need is the 5% target discount, going for the debit card version makes a lot of sense, no hit to your credit report at all.

[disdreamin]

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@FalconSteve wrote:

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@NoMoreE46 wrote:

@disdreamin ,

Cardholder for over 10 years and more than $4,000 limit but not a MC yet.   It does seem perplexing.  

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I've seen some people say they convert at $4k, but most seem to say $5k. Are you regularly updating income, reporting statement balances? How is you FICO? Any baddies?

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As I had mentioned above, income is updated regularly and has risen significantly since I was approved for the card, the card reports a balance almost every month, and my FICO 8 scores are currently low 800's (814, 802 and 805) but have ranged anywhere from the low point where they currently are to straight 850's in the time I've held this card.

So no, no baddies whatsoever.

[disdreamin]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@TheRedHat wrote:

Why do people want a high credit limit on this card or for it to upgrade to a Mastercard? To the best of my knowledge, the card has no rewards/bonuses outside of Target. With an APR over 20%, if you carry a balance it would cancel out any initial discount you may have had.  

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Others have given reasons.   My personal preference would be to put very little effort into trying/worrying about conversation (as the gain is very small) but .....     If the only need is the 5% target discount, going for the debit card version makes a lot of sense, no hit to your credit report at all.

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I will  take a credit report hit for the added security of a credit card versus a debit card any chance I get. I do not have a debit card attached to any bank account I hold, only ATM cards. I don't want to worry about losing a debit card and potentially having to deal with the ramifications of someone cleaning out an account. No thanks, pull my credit and sign me up for a cc please.

[K-in-Boston]

^^^ agreed.  In addition to losing around 1-2 months of float, you lose a lot of protections, including rules about unauthorized transactions as they relate to consumer credit cards.  If you are not someone very regularly balancing your checkbook and looking at each transaction, it could be catastrophic.  A few lines from the debit card agreement:

You could lose all the money in your Deposit Account (plus your maximum overdraft line of credit) that can be accessed by the Card.

If you tell us within four business days ... you can lose no more than $50...

If you do NOT tell us within four business days... you could lose as much as $500.

If you do not tell us within 90 days... you may not get back any money you lost after the 90 days if we can prove that we could have stopped someone from taking the money if you had told us in time.

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

^^^ agreed.  In addition to losing around 1-2 months of float, you lose a lot of protections, including rules about unauthorized transactions as they relate to consumer credit cards.  If you are not someone very regularly balancing your checkbook and looking at each transaction, it could be catastrophic.  A few lines from the debit card agreement:

You could lose all the money in your Deposit Account (plus your maximum overdraft line of credit) that can be accessed by the Card.

If you tell us within four business days ... you can lose no more than $50...

If you do NOT tell us within four business days... you could lose as much as $500.

If you do not tell us within 90 days... you may not get back any money you lost after the 90 days if we can prove that we could have stopped someone from taking the money if you had told us in time.

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Well, I have it attached to a bank account with a fairly small amount of money, so losing it all would be OK.   Also, the stuff I buy at target doesn't need the standard credit card protections (for those credit cards that still have them!).   I guess I am a risk taker!

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

^^^ agreed.  In addition to losing around 1-2 months of float, you lose a lot of protections, including rules about unauthorized transactions as they relate to consumer credit cards.  If you are not someone very regularly balancing your checkbook and looking at each transaction, it could be catastrophic.  A few lines from the debit card agreement:

You could lose all the money in your Deposit Account (plus your maximum overdraft line of credit) that can be accessed by the Card.

If you tell us within four business days ... you can lose no more than $50...

If you do NOT tell us within four business days... you could lose as much as $500.

If you do not tell us within 90 days... you may not get back any money you lost after the 90 days if we can prove that we could have stopped someone from taking the money if you had told us in time.

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How about the  lines just before!

"You will not be held responsible for unauthorized use of your Card, Card number, or PIN if you have exercised reasonable care in safeguarding your Card, Card number, and PIN from loss or theft. If you did not exercise such reasonable care, the following liability limitations for unauthorized use apply"

I agree this leaves some possible trouble with what counts as reasonable care etc, and getting money back from a debit card (where the money is gone) is a bigger hassle than with a credit card (where the money is merely apparently owed), but with a PIN, risk seems small.