I gave an overview of Citi-branded credit cards recently, but in addition to the ones discussed there Citi offers many store-branded cards as well. I was curious as to what’s out there so I dug up what I could. If I missed any, or if you have any experiences with these cards, please speak up in the comments. Let’s have a look, shall we?
- The only one of this lot I actually have is the Best Buy credit card. You get 5% off all Best Buy purchases, plus an extra 1% if you’re an Elite Plus member (which you get by spending $3,500 in a year at Best Buy). Do note that the default rewards rate for the BBY loyalty program is 2%, so the credit card actually gives you 3% or 4% depending on your elite status. This used to be one of my favorites on account of promotions where you could get double or triple rewards buying prepaid Visas, but that deal died last summer when Best Buy figured out they were effectively selling cash at a discount. So as things stand currently, I can’t think of anybody who stands to benefit significantly by using the Best Buy credit card instead of, say, the Citi Double Cash.
- Could I interest you in a Macy’s Amex? Aside from being a no-fee Amex card which may be of use to people who like Amex promotions, the card seems like it would be useful for Macy’s loyalists but few others. The best benefits are for those who spend more than $500 annually at Macy’s.
- There is a Bloomingdale’s store card as well. You can get 10% off your first purchase, and that benefit has a generous $250 cap. Cardholders get free shipping as well.
- Citi underwrites the Sears credit cards as well. I don’t see any significant benefits to this card, other than 2% back in rewards points for Sears purchases, which isn’t much. Surprisingly the MasterCard version of this card does not seem to offer rewards for purchases outside of Sears.
- The ExxonMobil card offers an anemic 6 cents per gallon rebate, and that’s only if you buy 45 gallons or more of ExxonMobil gas per month. The Shell credit card offers 5 cents per gallon, as do the Sunoco credit card and Citgo credit card, but with no minimum purchase.
- The Goodyear credit card is a store card only. It has some mildly interesting benefits: $5 off oil changes, free tire rotation (“at participating stores”), and “double your mail-in rebates for select tire and services during select promotional periods”. Right now Goodyear is offering a $60 mail-in rebate when you buy a new set of tires, and you can make that $120 if pay with the Goodyear credit card. So if you regularly go to Goodyear for tires anyway, this card could actually benefit you. I had no idea. I mean, that’s $60 extra you can put toward your Maldives trip.
- As long as we’re talking auto repairs, there’s also a Quick Lane store card which also has a Ford affiliation. It can be used at Quick Lane service centers as well as at Ford and Lincoln dealerships. One interesting thing to note here: “Each time you spend $250 or more on your Quick Lane Credit Card, you can earn a $25 prepaid card by mail-in rebate. * Offer good for new and existing Quick Lane customers.” So if you’re going to purchase a vehicle at a Ford dealership and they let you put part of the payment on this card, make sure they charge you $250 at a time.
- I’ve never even heard of BrandSource, but Citi issues their credit card. It’s a store card only and does not earn rewards. You can safely ignore this one.
- Who needs 5X Ultimate Reward points when you can get no rewards whatsoever with the Office Depot card? There are three different store cards: a personal credit card, a business credit card, and a business charge card. The business credit card offers 10% off your first purchase (with the benefit capped at $50, so don’t get any ideas), while the personal card offers unspecified “special promotions throughout the year”. Beyond that, these cards don’t seem to offer much.
- There’s also a Staples store card with the same personal / biz credit / biz charge setup as Office Depot. The Staples card lets you save $50 on a purchase of $150 or more when you apply in-store, plus it gives you free shipping and Premier status.
- There’s a Home Depot store card which offers free financing for 6 months and absolutely nothing else. Lame.
The post Citibank retail credit cards: a brief guide appeared first on Personal Finance Digest.
Continue reading...