Store credit cards

Store cards are some of the more profitable cards on the market, for card providers.  This is because they are very convenient to take on and it is quite inconvenient to compare them with other cards when signing up.

Store cards tend to be very convenient to obtain as they are offered in the store and not by post or online as most other credit cards are.  There is no wait between applying for and receiving the card.  It is often the case that an existing customer is offered a store card when waiting to pay for purchases, and by taking the store card they get an instant discount.  However as a result of this store cards tend to be some of the more expensive cards with less favorable conditions and higher interest rates.

There are reasons to get store cards.  Firstly as they are tied to the store they tend to offer very good rewards programs compared to other card providers, but these rewards programs are limited to the store or the group of companies.  So if the card user is a frequent customer of the store then the discounts and free goods that the card attracts may make the card worth applying for.  The cards may also be worth the introductory discount or extended interest free period if there is a very large purchase.

Most store cards are provided by established credit card providers who run all administrative aspects of the credit cards, while allowing the store to brand the card, sell the card and to take a proportion of the profit from the card.  These are known as private label cards.  The biggest providers of these cards are GE Money and Citi. Most online store cards, such as Apple and Amazon, are offered by private label providers.
The original model for store cards was for the company to operate them in-house, with the administration, billing and approval all being done by the store offering the card.  These have mostly been superseded.  These cards tend to only allow spending within the store itself due to the administrative difficulties of fraud prevention and recharging from other stores.  There are still a number of these in-house cards, with large retailers such as Nordstrom and Target running these schemes.

The largest in-house card by charge volume is offered by Nordstrom and the second largest by charge volume (and largest by balance outstanding) is the American Army & Air Force Card (AAFES) which is only offered to military personnel and offers both a generous credit limit and payment terms, although this can only be used in the AAFES controlled stores, which include convenience stores, gas stations and department stores.