When it comes to retail store credit cards, the advantages are often outweighed by the disadvantages:

• Restricted Use: Most (but not all) can only be used at their affiliated retail or clothing store
• Higher Interest Rates: Nosebleed APRs are the norm with store cards
• Few Benefits: Some don’t even offer rewards, let alone worthwhile benefits

That’s how most operate. However the best store credit cards offer some exceptions to the status quo. Some come with rewards and benefits worth pursuing, if you shop a lot at their stores.

Which are the best?

What follows is a list of store credit cards which are the best within the retailer category. But please keep in mind what’s “best” on this list may actually be pitiful when compared to a normal credit card. Also, not all of them are easy to get.

#1. Costco American Express

Because of its generous rebate program, some have been known to get a Costco membership just so they can get this credit card.

Pros? It offers good rewards; 3% at gas stations, 2% at restaurants, 2% on travel, and 1% everywhere else (including Costco). You can use it wherever American Express is accepted. There’s no annual fee as long as you have a Costco membership.

Cons? If you stop paying/cancel your Costco membership, then the card will no longer be free (and you will be charged the cost of membership each year whether you want it or not). The APR is middle of the road.

Review the American Express Costco credit card for yourself

#2. Sams Club Discover

For large spenders who are Sams Club Advantage Plus members, this retail card offers potential for good cash back.

Pros? This card is only worth chasing if you are a Sams Club Advantage Plus member. Why? Well the first $3k spent only earns 0.25% to 0.50% but after that, you can earn 1% to 2% cash back (the more you spend, the higher you earn). Since it is a Discover card, it can be used everywhere Discover is accepted.

Cons? It’s not managed by Discover (who has great customer service). Instead, the accounts are managed/issued by GE Capital Retail Bank, who is well known for offering subpar support. If you are just a standard Sams Club Advantage member, you only can earn a max of 1% cash back.

Find out more about the Sams Club Discover card.

#3. Target REDcard

This card has been around for ages but a couple years ago, Target changed up the rewards program.

Pros? It gives a straight up 5% rebate for purchases at Target which are charged to the card. Since they sell groceries, clothing, furniture and just about everything in-between, the right shopper can get a lot of use out of this card (much more than they would a clothing store credit card).

Cons? The biggest drawback is it can only be used at their stores. To apply for it, you have to do it in-store or through the mail, as there is no online application. The APR is high at 22.90%. Last but not least, their credit card customer support doesn’t have the best reputation in town.

See my Target credit card review

#4. Lowes Consumer Credit Card

For frequent shoppers who pay in full, the rebate is a good deal.

Pros? Like the Target card, this one also had its rewards program revamped to offer a 5% rebate. It now gives 5% on purchases at Lowes (cannot be combined with coupons or other offers). It’s one of the more easy to get store credit cards, which means someone with fair/bad credit might be able to use it to build credit.

Cons? The standard APR is outrageous at 24.99%. It’s yet another store card that’s issued/managed by GE Capital Retail Bank. You can only use it at Lowes.

An in-depth look at the Lowes credit card

#5. Pottery Barn Credit Card

This might be the top rewards program in terms of the percentage you get back on purchases.

Pros? For the right person, this is perhaps the best retail store credit card when it comes to rewards. It gives what equals out to be a 10% rebate on purchases. Based on customer reviews I have seen, if you have a FICO score in the high 600s, that might be the minimum required for approval (so it’s relatively easy to get).

Cons? Unless you just moved into a big empty house that needs to be furnished from top to bottom, chances are you won’t use the card enough to be worthwhile since it’s only accepted at Pottery Barn. Not surprisingly, the APR is high.

Learn more about the Pottery Barn card

#6. Gap Visa Card

For the hardcore Gap lovers it could be worth a look.

Pros? The biggest strength of this card is that it gives 5x points (equal to a 5% rebate) not just at Gap, but also the company’s sister stores: Old Navy, Athleta, Piperlime, and Banana Republic. If your credit score isn’t good enough to be approved for the Visa, there is easier approval for the store credit card version (so this could be a worth considering for building credit).

Cons? The Visa card listed an APR at 23.99% (and the store version is even higher). While it’s true that the rewards are good, many shoppers simply don’t spend enough per year at Gap and their affiliates to make it worthwhile.

Review both versions of the Gap credit card

#7. Mercedes Benz American Express Card

Is a Mercedes dealership considered to be a retailer? Because I don’t know what else to classify it as, so I’m tossing it in the store credit cards list!

Pros? For those who drive (or plan to in the near future) a Mercedes, the rewards and rebates you get are enticing. Each year you spend $5,000 or more, you get a $500 certificate good towards the purchase or lease of a new Benz. There is also a $50 certificate for accessories given once per year. On top of those things, you also earn 1-5x points/dollar on spending.

Cons? Obviously the audience this is targeted towards is quite small, so it will have limited/no appeal for most people. There is an annual fee and because it’s an American Express AND for Mercedes owners, as you can guess this is not going to be easy to get approved for it you have a shady credit history.

Compare both tiers of the Mercedes Benz American Express

#8. Exxon Mobil MasterCard

Exxon Mobil has 3 cards but only 1 of them is respectable and that’s the MasterCard.

Pros? Because it’s a MasterCard you can use it at Exxon Mobil stations/convenience stores as well as anywhere else that takes MasterCard. It gives 15 cents off per gallon at their stations which can mean a good percentage discount when gas is cheap (but unfortunately we haven’t seen that in a long time!). On purchases elsewhere else there’s the ability to average out above a 1% rebate with their tiered structure.

Cons? The APR is high and because they are considered to be “name brand” gas, a lot of times you might be able to fillup cheaper simply by going to an off-name station instead.

See all 3 Exxon Mobil credit cards

#9. Victoria’s Secret Credit Card

This used to be one of the worst store-branded cards, but it has been improved.

Pros? This is an easy to get store credit card and that’s probably its biggest benefit, because people can use it for establishing/rebuilding. The rewards percentage works out to be 4%. Angel VIPs (those who spend $250+) also get double points on bras (which would mean 8% on those purchases).

Cons? Even though this credit card offers a good percentage rebate, it’s highly unlikely you are going to be spending that much per year on underwear! Many say the credit limits are on the low side. The 24.99% interest rate isn’t exactly pretty, either.

See the details for the Victorias Secret Angel card

#10. Saks Fifth Avenue MasterCard

For a department store credit card, the rewards on this are nothing to sneeze at.

Pros? For purchases inside Saks it gives 2-6x points/dollar (only 2 for annual spending up to $4,999). However outside of their stores it gives 3x at salons and spas, 2x on groceries and gas, and 1x elsewhere. Each point = 1 cent towards a Saks gift card.

Cons? The interest rates suck and the requirements for approval are more stringent. The best card for a place like Saks if you have good credit is actually the American Express Blue Cash Preferred because it gives 3% at ALL department stores.

Get 3% cash back at ALL dept stores with AmEx Blue Cash Preferred

I first became aware of the FreeScore.com website a few years ago, back when Ben Stein was doing commercials for them.

I’m not exactly sure what Ben Stein’s official involvement in the company was (just spokesman? or a part owner too?). As far as I know, he was only a paid spokesman for this website and allegedly that’s why he lost his column for the New York Times.

Now personally, I have nothing bad to say about the guy. Several years ago I actually had a job with him for a DirectTV commercial he did (it was a Ferris Bueller parody).

I remember he forgot to bring his original tie from the movie (which he still has) so someone had to drive from the set (at USC) down to his home (Laguna Beach) to pick it up and drive back. If you know LA traffic, you will know doing that in the middle of the day takes a great deal of time. As a result, there was a lot of talking going on and he’s a super nice guy.

So I regret to say it, but he didn’t exactly make the wisest decision in taking the FreeScore.com gig. My review will explain why…

Problem #1: What exactly is this “score” you are getting?

If you read this blog, you already know credit scores are not credit equal. There are FICO scores (which are most used by lenders) and then in distant second place is VantageScore.

After them, there are a slew of credit score formulas which aim to correlate with FICO, but they can never truly replicate it since they’re using a different formula.

So what type of credit score is FreeScore.com using? Well unfortunately, the answer isn’t very obvious! I poked around the website and didn’t see details about what type of score they are using.

However, in their “Credit Score Ranges” article which is linked to from their homepage, they talk quite a bit about FICO credit scores. Then right below, they have a large button that says “SEE YOUR SCORES NOW” and I find that a bit misleading, because you aren’t getting a FICO credit score.

Apparently this isn’t anything new though. A Wall Street Journal quote way back from 2009 said the same thing about the confusion of FICO information on the FreeScore site:

So what type of credit score are you getting from them? Well that I can’t say, because I looked diligently and couldn’t find anywhere on their site which tells us! The only info I see is that they give you 3 credit scores (of some sort?) and they generate these 3 scores using their model; one for each of the agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

But what I do know is that there are only two websites that sell FICO scores directly to consumers and you can see that info straight from the horse’s mouth on MyFICO.com:

So your two options are MyFICO and Equifax (the latter of which I advertise).

Problem #2: FreeScore.com isn’t always “free”

The most common reason people seem to allege FreeScore.com is a scam is because you will have to provide your credit card number and signup for a 7-day free trial.

Now in defense of FreeScore.com, they do tell you this on the page 2 of the enrollment process. At the top it says:

So the fact that you have to cancel the FreeScore.com membership or get charged is not the biggest complaint, at least for me personally.

Many websites employ the same trial technique for their so call “free” whatever, so this don’t really surprise me. However I suppose given the name of their business – FreeScore – it would still confuse some people, even though it’s spelled out in the enrollment.

Problem #3: Price for not cancelling the FreeScore.com trial

Now let me be clear that I didn’t go through and complete the signup for a trial, so I personally don’t have any experience with what their cancellation process entails (how easy or difficult it is).

But when I looked at the info for how to cancel the FreeScore.com membership, they do seem to be straightforward by offering different options to do so (a) calling 1-800-316-8824 (b) emailing “MemberSupport@FreeScore.com” or (c) using the site’s contact form.

So from what I can see, the cancellation process appears to be fair, without undue rigmarole. But if you forget to cancel, there’s an ugly price to pay…

Being charged $14.95 per month for “membership” in their credit monitoring service is quite expensive. Even though the price is comparable to many other services, the beef I have with paying for FreeScore.com is that you aren’t getting a FICO.

So if you’re not getting FICO, is it really worth paying that much money just for monitoring?

Conclusion?

Even though my review isn’t the most flattering, technically speaking, FreeScore.com is not a “scam” because they do tell you upfront that you are paying if you don’t cancel. But is it a good or lousy deal? Well, I will let you draw your own conclusion on that.

(and yes, I advertise Equifax’s credit score products, but hopefully you understand why!)

This review was written or last updated February 2012

Even though they don’t have any physical stores, Roaman’s is a popular online (and catalog) retailer for plus size clothing.

The Roaman’s credit card application says it can “save over $300 annually” but how accurate is that claim?

3 tiers: Signature, Advantage, and Premier

If you apply, you will start out with the Roaman’s Signature card (the lowest tier) and this is what it offers:

• When the card arrives it comes with a 20% off coupon
• A coupon 12x per year and for the cardholder’s b-day
• At least 2x per year there are “sneak peak fashion previews” (whatever that means)

If $250+ is spent annually on the credit card then it is upgraded to the Advantage. It is the same except with a couple other features:

• The first coupon for opening the account is 35% (instead of 20%)
• $5.99 flat shipping offers 12x per year

And lastly, the Premier card is given for having $500+ charged annually. Same as above except:

• The new account coupon is 40%
• The shipping offers are for $2.99 (instead of $5.99)
• For the 1st Friday of each month there is an email list for “Fabulous Fridays” savings

But are these coupons and discounts really worth it?

So their application says you can save $300 per year with the card and for the higher tiers, the claims are even higher: $400+ annually for Advantage and $500+ annually for Premier

The question is… where are they coming up with those numbers?!

Unfortunately I don’t see the math laid out anywhere. If you scroll to the bottom of the application page, all the say next to the asterisk is that it’s based on “expected annual savings” for credit card accounts.

I’m not denying that much savings is possible, but without them telling us how much spending they’re using to come up with that number, it’s very vague and confusing.

I mean let’s be logical here… you can claim that amount of savings with almost any rewards card, assuming the person spent enough money, am I right?!

The Roaman’s credit card makes a poor argument for why you should get it when compared to say, the top 10 reward cards or any other for that matter.

Using the Roaman’s card vs. coupon codes?

Because they don’t provide more info about what the offers are they send out, it’s hard to judge how much they’re worth. But what I do know is that when I looked elsewhere, I saw plenty of good codes that had nothing to do with their credit card:

And that’s just from Roaman’s own social media accounts. I haven’t even checked the coupon websites yet.

So assuming a good coupon is available (like the above) let’s see… using that or getting a credit card that will charge an excessive interest rate if you don’t pay it in full? That certainly is not a good way to save money!

High rates + limited use + no cash back program = a thumbs down for tbe Roamans.com card.

This review was written or last updated Feb 2012

As you know, there are many sites these days which promise free scores or free credit reports… but very few actually deliver on that promise and some are just outright scams.

What is Quizzle.com?

Quizzle is a website that was launched in 2008 and the company is owned by Dan Gilbert (who also owns Quicken Loans). They’re based in the same state I grew up, Michigan. I have talked with employees of Quizzle before and they were all very nice to me.

But what exactly does this website do? Well if you’re familiar with Credit Karma or Credit Sesame, it’s similar to those but there are some key differences.

When you signup at Quizzle (which really is free) you get to:

1. Access your Experian credit report – You get full access to your Experian credit report (see below). I really like this because they don’t strip out any of the information… you get to see everything on there (unlike Credit Sesame who does not show your report).
2. Access to your CE score – This is not to be confused with a FICO score (that lenders use). Rather, this scoring formula was created by a company called CE Analytics. Outside of Quizzle I haven’t heard of it being used. It’s scale is on a 350 to 850 scale, but keep in mind the formula is different than FICO.

Part One: The Credit Report

Now if you were to check your Experian credit report directly from Experian.com, they would charge you $1 (for a trial enrollment in “Credit Tracker”) and if you didn’t cancel within 7 days, you would then be charged $17.95/month after the trial.

However contrast that to the Quizzle credit report. Is it really free? Yep. There are no strings attached. You don’t even have to enter a credit card number to see it.

Signing up consists of entering your basic information and answering a few questions to confirm your identity. After that, you will be taken to this screen…

The two “special offer” boxes at the bottom are for paid products, but if click on the area I circled in blue, that will take you to your 100% free Experian credit report.

This is a full-fledged credit report and you can click on any of these tabs and dive into what they contain.

How often can you get your free credit report on Quizzle? Every 6 months it can be updated for free. If you want it updated more frequently, then you will have to enroll in one of the paid plans.

Combine that with AnnualCreditReport.com’s 3 reports per year and that means you can pull a total of 5 times per year for free (3x from Experian, 1x from Equifax, and 1x from TransUnion).

Here are the credit inquiries as an example. They show you all the information, including which banks are pulling your credit and when. And yes, I’m on a credit inquiry diet right now, which is the reason why I haven’t had any in a while.

Individual credit cards and loan accounts are fully visible on Quizzle, including a breakdown of payment history, credit limits, and all that good stuff.

This is all the same info you would get access to on AnnualCreditReport.com when you review your accounts. On Quizzle.com you can also access a printer-friendly version of your entire credit report.

The negative accounts tab is also useful to quickly check and make sure there is nothing nasty showing up. If there are any negative accounts on your report, Quizzle will organize them by category for you: (1) real estate accounts (2) credit cards/revolving accounts (3) installment loans (4) student loans (5) medical loans (6) uncategorized accounts.

As someone who recently fell victim to having their report sabotaged by a collections scam, double-checking the negative accounts tab was what I was most interested in!

Part Two: The Credit Score

Remember this number is not a FICO credit score, so keep that in mind. Even though the number scale is similar (350-850) the parts of it are weighed in a different manner.

For example, “Cash Flow” is not something you will see listed in the FICO breakdown. To see how Quizzle’s free credit score compares to the two leading models, review my FICO versus VantageScore showdown.

So is Quizzle’s score accurate? Well it’s 100% accurate for what it is – a CE Score model – but if you are asking about accuracy relative to FICO, then the answer would be no… because it’s a different formula being used.

Quizzle reports my CE Score as being 726. My FICO score is 790, so a 64 point difference if you want to compare Quizzle vs FICO head-to-head (but like I said, you can’t do that).

On this model, 726 is within the highest bracket. But if I were to have a 726 FICO, that would put me the luke-warm category… it wouldn’t be good enough for the best credit cards, nor would it qualify for the best interest rates.

So don’t try and compare your Quizzle score with your FICO because there won’t be any accuracy in doing so. What Quizzle.com’s credit score could be useful for is showing perhaps the general category you fit in (Excellent, Good, Fair, etc).

Conclusion?

Is Quizzle a scam? Nope! You don’t have to provide any payment information, nor is there any trial offer you have to participate in to get this info.

If you are a lazy reader and skimmed through my review, I’ll reiterate my point that this is a good website to check your Experian credit report for free.

Even though none of my business accounts are at Bank of America, for some reason when I logged out of my personal account I was shown the following promotion:

This is the latest Bank of America business card with cash rewards. So is it worth getting?

Here’s a lowdown on the advantages and disadvantages:

It has no annual fee and obviously it’s a MasterCard. This is important to point out, because all of BofA’s small business cards that are Visa use WorldPoints (rather than straight cash back). The WorldPoints are not a good idea so the Business MasterCard is definitely the best out of the bunch.

The fine print on the cash rewards?

The ad above tells us the basics, but what’s hidden in the fine print? I reviewed everything carefully and here’s what I uncovered:

3% at gas stations and office supply stores

As is the case with all small business credit cards, the “office supplies” category consists of retailers which are solely office supplies (Staples, Office Depot, etc.). If you go to a store like Walmart and buy computer paper, it’s not going to count for the 3% cash back.

However if you look what it says after the highlighted text, it’s a bit worrisome and vague. They say it does not include stores that sell “large or high-priced” office equipment and then list computers and desk units as an example.

So does that mean if I use my Bank of America business credit card to buy a computer and desk unit at Staples, it won’t count for the 3% cash back?

I would assume it would still count, but can’t say for sure because of the vagueness in how they worded that.

When it comes to the 3% cash back at gas stations the rules are much more clear-cut. There are no surprises. “Gas stations that primarily sell fuel for consumer use” should count, regardless of whether you pay at the pump or inside.

2% at restaurants

Bank of America’s definition of “restaurants” is a bit narrower than what I’m used to seeing:

As you see they specifically exclude coffee shops (most other reward credit cards count them).

1% on other purchases

I didn’t see any surprises for this. On all standard purchases (so excluding cash advances and balance transfers) you will get 1% cash back.

Redemption and caps?

Seems to be fair – once $50 is accumulated it can be redeemed in increments of $25 via direct deposit or a check.

As far as caps on earning cash rewards, at this time there aren’t any.

The interest rates?

Obviously these things change frequently but the APR range on the credit card application was 11.24% to 21.24%.

The promotional interest rate offer was a bit weak – 0% for 9 months on purchases and no incentive for balance transfers.

The benefits?

Unfortunately Bank of America does not specify if their business credit card is Platinum, World, or World Elite (which are the tiers of MasterCard). But based on the benefits, my guess is that it’s either the standard or World MasterCard.

Pictured at right are the standard benefits that MasterCard offers on business cards (taken from MasterCard’s website, not Bank of America’s).

It’s important to point out that the “Roadside Service” benefit does not actually cover the cost of roadside assistance. All they will do is arrange it for you (and you have to pay for it). A lot of people get confused by this so thought I should explain that.

Requirements/qualifications?

So what are the requirements for a BofA small business credit card? Well, I have some bad news for you…

You will need to apply using your personal credit as a guarantee.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a sole proprietor or have a LLC/corporation with a separate tax ID number, you still will need to apply for the card using your Social Security number. That’s the requirement.

Why? Because in order to apply only under your company’s federal EIN alone, you typically are required to have several million in annual revenue (such as $5 million) and 2+ years of solid (and verifiable) revenue history for your company.

But not to beat up on Bank of America about this, because ever since the Great Recession a few years ago, all business cards require a personal guarantee.

BofA vs. the competition?

It’s no coincidence that Bank of America hardly advertises business credit cards – it’s not their strong point, nor do they appear to put a great deal of effort into them.

That being said, the Business MasterCard with Cash Rewards appears to be a good offer. I don’t have any personal experience with it though, as here are the ones I have personally used for my companies:

Chase Ink Cash – 5% cash back and no annual fee. Unlike most business cards, this one reports to Dunn & Bradstreet (and therefore is good for building business credit).

AmEx Gold For Business – Excellent benefits, but the $175 annual fee isn’t for everyone. Does not report to D&B so you would get this for the benefits and rewards, not credit building.

Written or last updated Feb 2012