Retail store credit cards

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Hear from our editors: The best retail store credit cards of May 2022

Updated April 29, 2022

This date may not reflect recent changes in individual terms.

Editorial note: Credit Karma receives compensation from third-party advertisers, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our third-party advertisers don’t review, approve or endorse our editorial content. It’s accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted.

Written by: Lance Cothern

Retail store credit cards can provide impressive value if you’re able to combine your regular shopping with a useful credit card from that same store. Here are our top picks for store credit cards to consider based on where you shop.

• Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card: 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods
• Target RedCard^TM: 5% discount at Target and Target.com
• Capital One® Walmart Rewards® Mastercard: 5% back at Walmart.com
• Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi: 4% back on gas
• Lowe’s® Advantage Card: 5% off on eligible purchases
• Chase Freedom Flex^SM: Occasional 5% retail bonuses
• Discover it® Cash Back: More occasional 5% retail bonuses

Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card: 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods

While it’s only available to Amazon Prime members, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card offers lots of value. You’ll get a $100 Amazon gift card once approved and an ongoing 5% back on Amazon and Whole Foods Market purchases as long as you maintain an eligible Prime membership. (If you don’t have an eligible Prime account, you’ll earn 3% back on the same purchases.)

The card also offers 2% back at restaurants, gas stations and drugstores as well as 1% back on all other purchases.

You can redeem your rewards for eligible Amazon purchases or cash through a statement credit or electronic deposit into an eligible checking or savings account. If you don’t have an Amazon Prime membership and don’t want one, Amazon offers other credit cards you may want to consider, too.

For the full scoop, read our Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card review.

Target RedCard™: 5% discount at Target and Target.com

Frequent Target shoppers can expect straightforward savings from the Target RedCard™, which offers 5% off eligible purchases at Target both in store and online. (This is a discount, not a credit card rewards program. It excludes certain purchases such as prescriptions, eye exams, Target gift cards and other select purchases.)

The card comes with shopping perks, too. You’ll get free shipping on most items ordered on Target.com and access to special items, gifts and offers. The card even extends your return period by an extra 30 days for returns and exchanges.

But this card can only be used at Target, so you won’t be able to use it to make purchases at other stores.

Find out more in our Target RedCard™ review.

Capital One Walmart Rewards® Card: 5% back at Walmart.com

If you shop at Walmart regularly, the Capital One Walmart Rewards® Card could earn you plenty of rewards. You’ll earn 5% cash back on purchases in Walmart stores for the first 12 months after approval as long as you pay with your card and Walmart Pay. After the first year, though, you’ll earn just 2% cash back in Walmart stores.

But you’ll get better ongoing rates when you make Walmart purchases online — the card offers 5% cash back on Walmart.com, including pickup and delivery. It also offers 2% cash back at restaurants and on travel, and 1% cash back on all other purchases where Mastercard is accepted.

Just keep in mind that if you aren’t approved for the Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard, you’ll be considered for the Walmart Rewards® Card, a closed-loop card that can only be used at Walmart.

Read more in our Capital One Walmart Rewards® Card review.

Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi: 4% back on gas

Unlike some of the other retail store credit cards on our list, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi doesn’t offer its highest rewards rate on Costco purchases. Instead, you’ll earn 4% cash back on gas (including gas at Costco) on up to the first $7,000 spent per year (then 1%).

You’ll also earn 3% back on restaurant and eligible travel purchases, but only 2% back on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com and 1% cash back on all other non-Costco purchases.

You’ll get your rewards in a unique way, too. They accumulate until your February billing statement closes, at which point you’ll receive an annual credit card reward certificate that you can redeem for cash or merchandise at a U.S. Costco Warehouse location.

If you want more information about the card, our Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi review may be helpful.

Lowe’s® Advantage Card: 5% discount on eligible purchases

If you like DIY projects, the Lowe’s® Advantage Card can help you out with a straight 5% discount on eligible purchases (excluding certain bundles and bulk purchases). The card also offers a 20% first-day discount (of up to $100 in savings) when you’re approved.

Alternately, cardholders can forgo the 5% discount to stretch qualified purchases up to 84 months with fixed monthly payments and a reduced APR.  

But this and other special financing offers can prove very tricky, so be careful. If you don’t pay the balance off in full before the period expires, you’ll likely have to pay all the interest you would have accrued on the full balance from the purchase date — not just what you haven’t yet paid off. We recommend reading more about these deferred interest offers before you choose them.

For more on the Lowe’s® Advantage Card, check out how it stacks up against the Home Depot Consumer Credit Card in our credit card comparison.

Chase Freedom Flex℠: Occasional 5% retail bonuses

The Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card isn’t a retail store credit card, but we’re including it in this list because it allows you to earn 5% cash back on some of your retail purchases.

The card offers 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in quarterly purchases (then 1%) in categories that rotate each quarter, when activated. Those categories sometimes include specific retail stores — for now, the 5% bonus categories for April through June 2022 include eligible purchases at Amazon.com and select streaming services. See the current and past Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories.

This card also offers ongoing 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3% back on dining and drugstore purchases and 1% back on all other purchases. Plus, you’ll earn 5% cash back on gas station purchases on up to $6,000 spent during your first year with the card. You can also earn a $200 bonus for spending $500 on purchases in the first 3 months after opening your account. And all of these rewards come with a $0 annual fee.

Read member reviews of Chase Freedom Flex℠ to help you learn more about whether this card is a good fit for you.

Discover it® Cash Back: More occasional 5% retail bonuses

Like the Chase Freedom Flex℠, the Discover it® Cash Back offers rotating 5% cash back categories on up to $1,500 in purchases per quarter (then 1%) when activated. And it can offer occasional retail store bonuses in those rotating categories, too.

For example, this card’s 5% cash back categories for April through June 2022 include purchases at gas stations and Target. Past categories have included grocery stores and gas stations.

While the Discover it® Cash Back only offers 1% cash back on all other purchases, the good news is that it comes with a $0 annual fee.

Our Discover it® Cash Back review details the other key features of this card.

Do retail store credit cards build credit?

Retail and department store credit cards can impact your credit just like any other credit card, so long as the issuer reports to the three major consumer credit bureaus. Many of these store cards are easier to get approved for, so they provide you with credit access you may not able to get from other types of cards.

At the same time, these cards are only likely to improve your credit history if you practice good credit health habits, such as paying on time and in full and using a low percentage of your available credit limit.

Do retail store credit cards hurt your credit score?

Retail credit cards can decrease your credit scores temporarily because of the initial hard inquiry that’s run when you apply. For that reason, applying for a high number of credit cards in a short period of time usually has a negative impact on your scores. That impact should fade over time, but it can still make a difference.

Otherwise, retail store and department store credit cards can damage your credit scores just like any other credit card. If missed or late payments are reported to the credit bureaus, your scores can suffer.  

Are retail store credit cards worth it?

Retail store credit cards can be worth it if you’re able to get more value back from the card than you would from another type of credit card. For example, a card that offers a 5% discount or 5% back in rewards on all eligible purchases at that store may provide better value than a more flexible cash back card you use for other types of purchases. Additionally, perks like free shipping or early access to sales can come in handy if they fit your shopping habits.

But retail store and department store credit cards come with lots of risks. For one thing, they can have high purchase APRs that can cost you more than you earn in rewards if you pay late. Additionally, deferred interest charges on tricky promotional financing offers can bring unexpected costs that create far more problems than they solve.

If you want to start building credit and are struggling to find another card, these cards might be useful despite their risks. Since retail and department store credit cards are often easier to get approved for, they might provide you access to credit where you otherwise have none.

How we picked these cards

We picked the best retail store credit cards by considering the best combination of card value and card offers from stores that feature a wide variety of available goods. While devotees of a particular department store or chain might find more value from other retail store picks not mentioned in this article, we wanted to focus on credit cards that were likely to appeal to a wide variety of shoppers.

Additionally, we picked two cards that aren’t standard retail credit cards but do occasionally offer discounts at specific retail stores. While these cards don’t offer the consistent savings of other retail cards, they do offer enough value to include them on this list.