Catalogue credit cards

A catalogue credit card can be offered by a large mail order company.  It is very convenient to apply for and due to the sort of people who often use mail order they can be available to borrowers with a poor credit rating. 

Despite the fact that they are offered under the catalogue brand they can often be used at all outlets that accept credit cards.  Sometimes this has to be checked as some catalogue credit cards are in effect a credit account at the catalogue provider.  If the card is offered by MasterCard or VISA then it will be accepted wherever the MasterCard or VISA sign is shown, but if the card is advertised as “in house” then this is unlikely to be the case.

Catalogue credit cards can be very expensive for the borrower.  Because they are so easy to apply for and the inability to easily compare them to other credit cards at the time of taking the card out they can get away with a very high interest rate.  If taking out a credit card on a catalogue then it is always a good idea to compare it with other similar credit cards on line to see if the card is in fact a reasonable card, although it is also a good idea to be realistic about the credit rating.

One very common way to persuade customers to become credit card users is to offer an instant discount on the goods that are being purchased in order to complete the credit card application form.  This convenience can be expensive as there are often higher interest rates and tougher conditions on credit cards.

There are reasons to take up catalogue cards.  This includes the fact that the discounts can be quite sharp from the catalogue as the credit card provider is also the catalogue provider.  This is sometimes not the case when the card provider is in fact a bank or non-bank finance provider that is simply using the catalogue brand as a label and is running the card.

These cards are called private label cards.  GE Money is one of the biggest providers of these cards.  They run the administration of the card and advance the funds and then share the profit with the catalogue company.  These cards are far less likely to be limited to the catalogue and the credit card provider will be another company, such as VISA or MasterCard.