A Toys R Us store in Japan

Did you know that Toys R Us originally started out in 1948 as a baby furniture store in Washington DC? Of course today, they are among the largest chain of toy retailers in the world – over 1,500 stores in 35 different countries! Besides Toys R Us, the company also owns Babies R Us, KB Toys, and FAO Schwartz.

As with many retail chains, there is also a branded Toys R Us credit card. But is it worth getting?

Issuer: The card is issued by Chase and operates on the MasterCard payment network.

Annual Fee: none

Interest Rate: As we all know credit cards change their APRs all the time, but at the time of this review, the Toys R Us card had a variable rate ranging from 15.24% to 19.24%. Although it’s not the worst we’ve seen for a store card, it is still definitely on the high side.

Rewards: The Toys R Us MasterCard rewards program is as follows:

• 4 points per dollar spent at Toys R Us and Babies R Us
• 1 point per dollar spent on all eligible purchases everywhere else MasterCard is accepted
• Every 1,000 point earns a $10 savings certificate that can be spent at any Toys R Us or Babies R Us.
• Only a maximum of 3 savings certificates can be earned per month. For example, that would mean spending $3,000 on regular purchases (3,000 points) – OR – $750 at their stores (3,000 points) in a given month would max out your rewards.

Verdict?
Before you apply for a Toys R Us credit card it’s important to run the numbers to see if it makes sense for you. Basically you are earning 4% at their stores, but only 1% everywhere else. So unless you plan on regularly spending a lot of money there, it probably isn’t worth getting. Also because the APR is on the high end, it wouldn’t be a good credit card to carry a balance.

A Better Rewards Recommendation
We advertise a card known as the Chase Freedom which is clearly a better way to earn rewards at Toys R Us. Why? Well the card has a program known as Chase “Ultimate Rewards” that let’s you shop through the cardmember portal at ToysRUs.com and you get a 4% rebate on your online purchases there.  On top of that, I see on my account that there are added promo offers like free shipping for spending $100 or more, so it’s essentially giving you the same value rebate as the Toys R Us credit card.

But the best part about the Chase Freedom is it gives up to 5% cash back on various categories so overall you will be earning higher rewards than the Toys R Us card. To learn more and for a special free signup bonus check out our Chase Freedom review.