well they have to jack it up so high to cover all those no intrest no payments deals they run

Citibank controls the interest rates, not Sears.  Sears has to abide by them and Sears actually pays the interest on those no interest no payment deals.  So, the higher the interest on Sears cards, the more Sears pays to Citibank.  To wrap it all up, the higher the interest, the more Citibank gets from both Sears and the customer.

Very professional "Brand Central Manager"

I certainly agree that the interest rate is much too high.  Especially not with the horrible economy, it will make some folks wait to purchase high dollar items later or maybe even second hand at garage sales, etc.  Fortunately, I do not carry a large balance at Sears.  Perhaps Sears could find another bank or outlet to manage those card accounts or bid them competitively sometime in the future to hold down those credit card costs, or even do it themselves as some other companies.  I do like the point benefits of the card as we use those every Christmas!!

yea nice of them, all credit cards, to start upping fees and intrest rates now that the economy is hurtung that really ought to help

Rate is high, but like the rebate from pharmacy, etc. use.    Paying in full is the 'only' way to prevent high interest rates.   On occasion I did forget my payment and sent it in by phone ---- was charged a high fee for same but when called -- they removed the service charge which was nice (should not have been on there anyway)

Have not heard from you in a while. Glad to see you are still on the post.

Hi, Sears associate here.

As TMG said, CitiBank is the bank backing the credit cards. If you get a credit card from any retailer, like Kohl's, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., the rates will be in the mid-20s or higher. This is the industry standard. The stores don't make a penny off of the interest rates charged.

If you dislike the high interest rates, you can always treat the Sears card as a tool with a specific function. For instance, I use my Sears MasterCard for my appliance and electronics purchases that will be no interest/no payments.

And, keep in mind that every credit card's rates have increased with the economy's downturn. Anyone out there had an interest rate decrease (or even an unrequested credit limit increase) in the last 10 months on any of their credit cards?

BlueCrewGuyInMA said…

Hi, Sears associate here.

As TMG said, CitiBank is the bank backing the credit cards. If you get a credit card from any retailer, like Kohl's, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., the rates will be in the mid-20s or higher. This is the industry standard. The stores don't make a penny off of the interest rates charged.

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wait store cards from any bank have higher intrest rates then a card with out the stores logo on it but the stores dont make anything for it? am i missing something here?

You'd have to ask CitiBank, or the bank backing a particular store's card, why the rates are higher. If I had to hazard a guess, it would be because people tend to use those cards exclusively at those stores (sometimes by habit, while some of the cards can only be used at the store on the card), which means the bank makes less money. A generic card is more likely to be used more often, so the bank makes more money.

Of course, with a Sears card (as an example), you have access to no interest/no payments promotions, discounts for using the card at certain times, rebates only for Sears card users, and coupons that are only for Sears card users. So, it's not like you get nothing. And if you use a credit card wisely, it pays you for using it, and not the other way around. If someone is irresponsible with their credit card, even a 5% interest rate card can turn into a monster.

in 3 years of having the card the only advantage i saw in having it was i could use it to get my discount at work instead of having to write a check

Whenever stores run a no interest/no payments option for x months, the retailer actually pays the interest to the credit card company.  That's why for the longest time there would be promotions for only certain amounts of time from retailers.  Now that retailers have gotten desperate for money flow, they are putting out a lot more of those promotions to win customers.

Basically, the credit card companies are going to get their interest either way, whether it's from the customer or from the retailer itself.

The retailer can get the money back if the customer does not pay off the promotional balance within the time limit, causing the interest to be the responsibility of the customer, but somebody's gotta pay in the end.

I've opened lots of Sears Gold cards where the customer gets the lowest rate, around 15-17%. The advantages of Sears cards are simple, cash rebates, additional discounts during 10% credit events and making payments at stores. Store payments post that day, even quicker than paying online. How else can you make a payment on the due date?

Anytime a purchase is 15 bucks or less, always offer, "You can get this for free by opening a new Gold Card." 

madgolfer said…

I've opened lots of Sears Gold cards where the customer gets the lowest rate, around 15-17%.

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wow i didnt know sears gold card rate went that low mine started at 22% and went up .5% every 6 or 8 months and i have good credit mever missed or made a late payment and never went over my limit.

hell one guy had 30% intrest rate and good credit etc

my decision to stop shopping at sears &kmart is the only solution and  they son't really care anyway'

What retailer's credit card has what you'd consider a low, or reasonable, interest rate?

You are very truthful with that statement. The higher the interest the Sears Card has, the more Sears pays in. Especially with the No Interest, No Payments, for whatever time frame. You're Brand Central, try being the knowledgable Home Improvement Customer Solutions Consultant.

sounds to me like a company hving a credit card with thier name on it is a waste of money to me

Not really. The stores do get a little financial incentive from the card-issuing bank when customers use their store credit card to pay for things, instead of losing money by paying credit card processing fees (usually 1-3%). And, people tend to use their store credit card at that store, so that's good for the store. That's why every retailer has its own credit card. Customers with retailer cards also tend to spend more money at those retailers (though there isn't really a causative relationship between merely having the card and how much someone spends). If it wasn't worthwhile financially, it wouldn't be done. However, that doesn't mean that it's 100% profit for the retailer, or for the card-issuing bank for that matter.

Sears offers so many needed options when applying for a store card.  I am sorry some posters are upset abt. the APR.  The Sears APR is in line with other comparable stores.  They also do not charge a yearly fee, which is not the case with many other credit cards.  Sears truly does offer a card for many different situations and you can get a discount on purchases.  Sears also offers AccountCare which will actually cancel your monthly payment for a period of time if you experience job loss, leave of absence or other life changing circumstances.  Some needed help during these economic times.

Here is my gripe with the Sears Card.....we did purchase a brand new stove with the no interest etc.  Every single month I have to call in and have the payment applied to that charge or it is simply applied to the regular purchases.  I have to watch our online banking to see when the check clears before I can call to have it re-applied.  Add this frustration to our fridge nightmare and Sears is NOT on my fav list these days.

Hmmm...Purrdy, I am going to send this issue on to SearsCares abt. the credit card.  Maybe they can advise you on a different way to get that payment in.

Thanks for the feedback!

 Dear Purrrdy:

 My name is Brian and I work with Sears Cares and I can understand your concern and frustration with this situation. What has been messaged on this thread by BlueCrewGuy is correct, but I did reach out to some of my contacts here to see if there is something else we can do or at least a way to set up the payments to be applied to the stove specifically. I would like to talk to you more in detail about this however. If you could respond by email to searscares@searshc.com with your phone number (and the phone number the stove was purchased under if different from your contact phone number), I would be glad to call you and see if there isn't something I can do to help. I look forward to talking to you soon and hopefully we can help to resolve your frustration.

 Thank you,

 Brian J.

Senior Case Manager

I have had a Sears Gold Mastercard a long time, at a very low interest rate. Then a couple years ago they uped it to 12%. Recently they decreased my credit line because they said I didn't need that much.  Just looked at my present statement,  now at 25%.interest. rate.  With this drastic increase in interest rate for one with a long history (talking over 20 years) and excellent credit - I'm trashing the card after I get my last rewards gift certificate of $50 :)  Not a way for a business to operate - will probably quit shopping at Sears as well.  It's the principal of the thing.

Hi Tapps-

Sorry to hear abt. this with your Gold Mastercard.  Right above your post is an email and info about our customer service team on this site-the screen name is SearsCares.  If you contact them, they can probably give you more information about your credit card.  It just seems like something to look into, b/c there would be no reason for Sears to increase your interest rate.  Just a suggestion-especially b/c it sounds like you have been a loyal customer for so many years!

Sorry that your interest rate went up but as mentioned before Sears does not own the Sears Card nor do we have any say as to what the interest rates are. When you are looking at Citi Group (The owners of the Sears Card) asking the government for an addition 1.5 Billion dollards in bailout money, you can see the direct correlation as to why your interest rate has gone up recently as opposed to the past when Sears actually owned and controlled the Sears Card.

Most retailers do not own their actual store credit cards which is why store cards have higher interest rates over consumer cards.

The Sears Card is best used as a discount card.

Thanks for the response. I just got done going over my old statements and I had stated an error.  My interest rate was not 12 percent. It turns out it was 8.99 percent iin August 08 and 7.24 percent in January 09.  Come 02/09 it jumped to 21.99 percent.  Quite a jump for one who has ALWAYS PAID ON TIME. I agree with you about Citi Group. I do not buy  the "bad economy bail out ****"  excuse to create an artificial risk factor uping interest rates on people with excellent credit.  I for one will not do business with any company that engages in it :)  Hoping Cti Group does not get any more bailout money and they go under - crooks.

 

 

 

wow ive never seen an intrest rate that low on a store card nor have i seen an intrest rate jump up that much on any card before

Yeah thats insane I haven seen such a low interest rate either. I think when I first started at Sears it was 12.99% then went to 15.99% now its 22.15% for the normal Sears Card.

No bailouts for these crooks. It's time to grab them by the horns and regulate these crazy upswings in intrest rates and fees. Hopefully Obama can set protection for consumer credit into law.