Thoughts On Store Cards?

[K-in-Boston]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

---

@UpperNwGuy wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Apply sparingly. Get only cards that you will use regularly. I have 1, my max would be 2. They have quirky terms and policies, and some major credit card issuers look at too many of them in a negative light. 

---

This is good advice.  As I posted upthread, I no longer have any store cards, but I can see having one or at most two might work for some people.

---

To me, this is just as arbitrary as "you should have a maximum of [say] 4 credit cards".  If you shop regularly at 5 stores which have great store cards,  get all 5....

---

Lol.

Watch out for your auto insurance company. Didn't someone post months ago that their auto insurer mentioned that they had TOO MANY store cards? And that mattered why to the insurance company?

Were they afraid the driver might all too often speed to these stores to catch the latest deal?

---

@Anonymous you may find this thread helpful:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Thoughts-On-Store-Cards/m-p/6054875#M1727841

[ChazzieT]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I've really been looking into the Amazon Prime Card and the Best Buy Citi Card cause i shop there very frequently. My main thing was would it really be benifical to get cards for these places in the future when my credit is too par or just stay away from store cards. Reading this thread has me thinking twice just to the fact that it impacts auto insurance.

---

Be sure to do your research first and be certain the store card is the best fit for your usage case, but if it is, have at it.

I got the Amazon Prime Store card, from Synchrony because I spend $750-$1k/month on amazon (a lot of that gets reimbursed by my employer).

If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten the Affinity FCU Cash Rewards Visa and Hi5 program, instead.

I never use the 0%/low APR offers on the Synchrony card and the Affinity card offers 5% cb on all bookstores (not just Amazon) and the Hi5 program tacks on an extra 5% category each quarter (which is also stackable with the year round rewards). When the 5% cat is bookstores (usually Q4 for christmas spend) the card brings 10% for all amazon purchases. Affinity also has 2% back on gas, groceries, and something else I can never remember and has a 5% category that covers each, stacking to 7%.

My point being, make sure you get the best card for you and don't worry so much about whether it's a store card or a big bank card. As your profile grows, you will want to concern yourself with how many cards of each type (or from each issuer) you have. Right now, focus on getting the card that will help you the most.

[longtimelurker]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

---

@UpperNwGuy wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Apply sparingly. Get only cards that you will use regularly. I have 1, my max would be 2. They have quirky terms and policies, and some major credit card issuers look at too many of them in a negative light. 

---

This is good advice.  As I posted upthread, I no longer have any store cards, but I can see having one or at most two might work for some people.

---

To me, this is just as arbitrary as "you should have a maximum of [say] 4 credit cards".  If you shop regularly at 5 stores which have great store cards,  get all 5....

---

Lol.

Watch out for your auto insurance company. Didn't someone post months ago that their auto insurer mentioned that they had TOO MANY store cards? And that mattered why to the insurance company?

Were they afraid the driver might all too often speed to these stores to catch the latest deal?

---

That's OK.   I moved to MA just to avoid credit score based insurance.   

And as a backup, I don't buy insurance anyway and open all my store cards with stolen identities.  No need to limit your store cards if you are willing to cut corners!

[Red1Blue]

I am curious about store cards and how many store cards do you keep. I have FingerHut, Kohl's, Williams and WayFair. I buy from them a lot and would like to keep getting their special discounts and promos using their store cards. I thought about Walmart, Amazon and other store and did not feel like getting any thing else. I think 4 store cards is good to keep and benefits are worth keeping them. There is lot of talk about store cards effect on car insurance and other things. I have no idea. My insurance had not changed in years and I keep discounts on my car insurance every year.

[UpperNwGuy]

None.  I used to have a bunch, but I got rid of the final five cards three years ago.  I don't like store cards.  My general purpose bank cards are far superior credit products.

[M_Smart007]

"How many store cards do you keep"   >> Probably a couple too many.

I have closed a couple, and only keep the ones I use, or have large CL's for Util. Padding

ETA: Perks >> 5-10% Store card Savings, plus "ZERO" APR Promos. 6 Month 0% financing.

A little more on Insurance and store cards ...(He is more in the deep end of the pool)

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Thoughts-On-Store-Cards/m-p/6054875#M1727841

[M_Smart007]

---

@UpperNwGuy wrote:

None.  I used to have a bunch, but I got rid of the final five cards three years ago.  I don't like store cards.  My general purpose bank cards are far superior credit products.

---

5% store cards are horrible.

[Red1Blue]

---

@UpperNwGuy wrote:

None.  I used to have a bunch, but I got rid of the final five cards three years ago.  I don't like store cards.  My general purpose bank cards are far superior credit products.

---

I thought we get special discounts when using the store cards at their stores. Is it not true ?

[Red1Blue]

---

@M_Smart007 wrote:

"How many store cards do you keep"   >> Probably a couple too many.

I have closed a couple, and only keep the ones I use, or have large CL's for Util. Padding

---

 I used to have bunch of the store cards before 2016 and I closed all of them. I just dont use them and did not want to bother pampering them. I am keeping only 4. FingerHut ( that is probably useless and should go). Kohl's, WayFair, Williams. 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

---

@UpperNwGuy wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Apply sparingly. Get only cards that you will use regularly. I have 1, my max would be 2. They have quirky terms and policies, and some major credit card issuers look at too many of them in a negative light. 

---

This is good advice.  As I posted upthread, I no longer have any store cards, but I can see having one or at most two might work for some people.

---

To me, this is just as arbitrary as "you should have a maximum of [say] 4 credit cards".  If you shop regularly at 5 stores which have great store cards,  get all 5....

---

Lol.

Watch out for your auto insurance company. Didn't someone post months ago that their auto insurer mentioned that they had TOO MANY store cards? And that mattered why to the insurance company?

Were they afraid the driver might all too often speed to these stores to catch the latest deal?

---

That's OK.   I moved to MA just to avoid credit score based insurance.   

And as a backup, I don't buy insurance anyway and open all my store cards with stolen identities.  No need to limit your store cards if you are willing to cut corners!

---

You're my hero