November 1,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, With the average consumer expected to spend roughly $935 this holiday season and our annual credit-card debt tab projected to reach a record $80 billion by New Year’s, store credit cards and retailer financing “deals” are sure to be in high demand. With that in mind, WalletHub today released its 2016 Store Credit Card Landscape and Deferred Interest Financing reports in order to help keep shoppers’ wallets safe.
Deferred interest plans typically offer 0% introductory terms, but they come with a catch that distinguishes them from normal 0% credit cards. If you leave even a $1 balance unpaid balance at the end of the introductory period or you pay one of your monthly bills a day late, interest will retroactively apply to your entire original purchase amount. So what you initially thought was a great deal could quickly devolve into a holiday nightmare. But that shouldn’t discourage folks from ever using store-affiliated plastic, as some great discounts are available. You just need to know where to look.
Report Highlights
- All of the major retailers that offer 0% financing use deferred interest (82% are issued by just three banks: Synchrony, Citi and Comenity).
- Pottery Barn and West Elm are among the least transparent retailers about their use of deferred-interest financing while Apple, JCPenny and Kay Jewelers are among the most transparent.
- Roughly 99% of store credit cards do not charge an annual fee. In contrast, the average general-use credit card charges $16.42.
- The average store credit card that offers rewards in the form of discounts gives you a 19.27% initial discount and 2.90% off every purchase moving forward.
2016’s Best Store Credit Cards
To compare more store credit card offers, try WalletHub’s helpful tool:
https://wallethub.com/credit-