Labor day has just passed and Macy’s offered 10 – 15% off any purchase if the store branded credit card was used. Obviously, it was a great way to get everyone to sign up the credit card because I heard my aunt and fiancée talking about the sale and also everyone lining up at the cash register. Normally, many of us will immediately sign up for the credit card because of the savings, but some of us should really say no.
Payment Options Are Not As Flexible
It’s not the discount that is bad (although buying something at a discount really means spending less money instead of saving money like most people want to believe), but rather the store branded credit card. I remember signing up for a credit card from a clothing store Express because they offered 15% off my first purchase. 30 days later when it came time to pay the credit card, I realized that the only option to pay the balance was through the phone, which had a service charge of $5. So for a $50 purchase, I was charged $5 to pay off the balance.
Extremely High and Non-negotiable Interest Rate
It should be noted that store branded credit cards have one of the highest interest rates. To make matters worse, they are usually unwilling to negotiate with us on the rate. This is very bad for people that cannot pay off credit card debt because having a lower interest rate has such a big difference on the total payment that we need to make to pay the debt off.
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Carrying the store branded credit card in our pocket works just like putting eBay.com as our homepage. Since we always remind ourselves of the store, we will be more inclined to go shop there. There’s a saying “old of sight, out of mind”. This saying works here also.
My fiancée just came back from the mall and said that she didn’t get anything. I’m so proud of her! Let us be proud of you by not applying for a store branded credit card too!
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I had a similar experience with that Express credit card. I canceled it immediately and haven’t applied for any other store branded card.
I swear that I won’t ever apply for one again.