Store Credit Card Pros & Cons
By: Brad Drazen, WVIT
Updated: February 12, 2009
It's tempting, but there's a lot to consider before you say yes to a store-specific credit card."Most of us are feeling time stressed as it is. Do we want to have to keep track of when another payment is due?" asked financial adviser Brenda Brinz Vandeweghe.
There are some benefits to signing up for that new card.
On top of the immediate savings, many stores offer exclusive shopping days for cardholders and other promotions.
Store cards also provide a way for shoppers to build a credit history, but it can cut both ways.
Your credit rating is impacted every time you open or close an account.
"It goes into your credit report and there's a check on it and it can impact your credit rating for a short period of time," Vandeweghe warned.
That can impact your ability to get a car or home loan and these days something more.
"Today, a lot of employers are running credit checks on their new employees. So you need to have good credit for tons of reasons," advised Vandeweghe.
She recommends you have two bank cards: One for primary use, the other as a backup.
Try to pay it off every month, and don't carry a balance more than 30 percent of the card's credit limit.
Many of the coupon websites and retailers' online stores have coupons.
So a shopper can walk to the mall with a deal already in hand, without the need to sign up for another credit card.
