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By Stephen Sellner | Citizens Bank Staff
I went shopping for new clothes recently. Once I laid down all my sweet new button-downs on the counter at checkout, the friendly store clerk asked me an all-too-familiar question.
Do you want to open a card with us?
Here we go again, I thought. In the past, I’ve balked at these offers, thinking that somehow they had to backfire on people in the future. As a result, I told the woman that no, unfortunately I didn’t have a store credit card and that I wasn’t interested in opening a credit card today.
To her credit (no pun intended), she asked one more time.
Are you sure? If you open a card today, you’ll get 20% off your purchase today and 10% off future purchases.
Now she had my attention. Saving 20% off my purchase was definitely enough reason to consider it, but again, I got defensive. Why would this store offer me 20% off just for opening a credit card with them?
I caved and opened the card. And I’m glad I did.
Turns out, I was wrong about store credit cards all along. When used responsibly, they’re not too good to be true. They’re just … good.
Store credit cards typically offer discounts on all purchases, so the savings don’t stop once you open the card.
Store credit cards are a great way to score big-time savings at your favorite stores. Plus, they provide financing flexibility rather than having to pay with a debit card. In some cases, you can even get free shipping on all online orders.
Use these five tips to get the most out of these store credit cards:
Store credit cards aren’t too good to be true. When used responsibly, they’re a great way to score savings on purchases, especially if the store offers a big discount on your purchase for opening the credit card. Just make sure you open these cards in moderation, use them as secondary credit cards, and adopt other best practices.
So, the next time you’re asked if you'd like to open a store credit card, you can proceed with confidence.
Looking to open a primary credit card? The Citizens Bank Cash Back Plus® World Mastercard® offers 1.8% cash back on everything. Yes, everything.
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