Yours truly signed up for a Dicks Sporting Goods credit card (issued by Synchrony Bank, formerly GE Retail Bank) today. Why would I do such a thing given that there are at least a hundred better credit cards to get? The answer is simple: curiosity.
I happened to be in the area today (they don’t take online apps), it’s been a few months since my last round of apps, my credit score is higher than I like it to be, so why not try something a little different? And that’s where the Dicks Sporting Goods credit card comes in. I’m pleased with how my Banana Republic card has worked out, so I figured what the hell.
This was only the second time I’ve done a point-of-sale credit card application before, and it feels a bit weird. You enter your social security number and household income into the P.O.S. terminal, and boom, you’re approved. (At least, I was approved, hopefully you’d be approved too.) My credit line was three grand, which was a little higher than I expected, given that this is a Synchrony retail card. And by the way, it feels a little weird to have the clerk at Dick’s Sporting Goods tell you that you’ve got a credit line of three grand. I don’t think they get too many apps there as it took a team of three to figure out how to get me through the process.
The card itself? It’s nothing spectacular. You get 6% off at Dick’s, and I think that goes to 10% off during your birthday month. You also get 10% off your purchase when you join, but I didn’t buy anything, so they gave me a slip which is good for 10% off anything at Dick’s for the next week or two with my credit card.
You get a very lame 1% back on purchases outside of Dick’s, unless the Synchrony marketing department comes through with a sweet promo. If they do, I will let you know. But unless you routinely spend a lot of money at Dick’s or you’re dropping several thousand on a piece of exercise equipment, you’d be better off getting something other than the Dicks Sporting Goods credit card.
A question for my millions of readers: as long as I’m checking out cards like this, are there any other ones you think I should apply for? Something you’re curious about but don’t want to waste an app on? I’m still thinking about that BJ’s card, but I’m open to suggestions.
Still need to check on that Sams card Nick.