Pros
- No membership fees
- High rewards rate
- up to $225 initial rewards bonus
Cons
- Spending caps on rewards
- No intro APR on purchases
- No intro APR on balance transfers
- Foreign fee
Sears Credit Card
- Earn 50 points (5% back) on eligible purchases at gas stations, 30 points (3% back) on eligible purchases at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $10,000 of combined gas, grocery and restaurants purchases per calendar year and 10 points (1%) thereafter.
- Earn 20 points (2% back) on eligible purchases at Sears & Kmart, and 10 points (1% back) on all other eligible purchases.
Rewards Details
- Earn a $75 statement credit for every $500 spent on eligible purchases within 90 days of account opening, up to a maximum total value of $225 in statement credits.
- Earn 50 points (5% back) on eligible purchases at gas stations, 30 points (3% back) on eligible purchases at grocery stores and restaurants on the first $10,000 of combined gas, grocery and restaurants purchases per calendar year and 10 points (1%) thereafter.
- Earn 20 points (2% back) on eligible purchases at Sears & Kmart, and 10 points (1% back) on all other eligible purchases.
- You can use earned points to save in-store or online at Sears or Kmart and at shopyourway.com.
- The points are valid for twelve months from the date they are awarded.
Additional Info
Is the Sears Credit Card Worth It?
The Sears Credit Card is worth it for Sears customers with good credit or better. It offers 10 - 50 points per $1 spent, gives a $75 statement credit for every $500 spent on eligible purchases in the first 90 days, up to a maximum of $225 in rewards, and has a $0 annual fee.
The Sears Credit Card, also known as the Shop Your Way Mastercard, lets you redeem your points for both Sears and Kmart purchases. It offers 5% discounts on select online purchases, too.
What You Need to Do to Make the Sears Credit Card Worthwhile
To make the Sears Credit Card worthwhile, you should pay your balance in full every month so that interest doesn’t outweigh your rewards. You definitely don’t want to owe months of interest since the card’s regular APR is 30.49% (V).
To further maximize the value of the Sears Credit Card, you should take advantage of the initial bonus as well. To get the highest possible bonus, you’ll have to spend $1,500 in the first 90 days, but you can get the minimum bonus by spending at least $500 in the same time period.
Sears Credit Card Highlights
- up to $225 Statement Credit: The Sears Credit Card offers a $75 statement credit for every $500 spent on eligible purchases in the first 90 days, up to a maximum of $225 in rewards. Such savings certainly won’t make you rich, but they’re better than what many other store cards offer.
- Average Rewards: The Sears Credit Card offers 50 points per $1 spent at gas stations, 30 points per $1 spent at grocery stores and restaurants up to $10,000 per year, 20 points per $1 spent at Sears & Kmart, 10 points per $1 spent on all other purchases. For comparison, the average rewards card gives 1.22 points per $1 spent.
- No Annual Fee: Although the Sears Credit Card doesn’t give you much, it doesn’t necessarily take anything from you, either. Its lack of annual fees helps cushion your budget and enables cost-effective credit building.
Sears Credit Card Lowlights
- High Regular APR: The Sears Mastercard has a 30.49% (V) regular APR. Compare that to 24.12% for the average good-credit credit card, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report, and you’ll understand why it’s a bad deal.
Other Things to Consider About the Sears Credit Card
- Temporary Shopping Pass: If you find yourself at Sears or Kmart needing to make a purchase but unable to find your card, you can obtain a temporary card to use by showing your ID to a store employee. It’s a nice convenience.
- 5% (min $10) Balance-Transfer Fee: You probably wouldn’t even think to transfer a balance to the Sears Mastercard, considering the treacherous financing climate it fosters. But if by chance you do, its 5% (min $10) balance-transfer fee should help dispel that notion once and for all. The market average, in case you’re wondering, is 3%.
- 3% Foreign Transaction Fee: Sears doesn’t have an international presence, so this particular nuisance fee applies only to the Mastercard. In short, it’s good reason to leave your Sears Mastercard at home in favor of plastic that will reward you for what you spend abroad, not charge you for it.
Sears Credit Card vs. The Competition
See how the Sears Mastercard stacks up against some of its popular competitors.
WINNER | |||
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annual fee$0 | annual fee$0 | annual fee$0 | annual fee$0 |
rewards rate
| rewards rate
| rewards rate
| rewards rate
|
bonus offer up to $225 | bonus offer N/A | bonus offer $50 gift card | bonus offer $50 |
Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APRN/A |
transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro aprN/A |
Regular APR30.49% (V) | Regular APR19.48% or 29.99% (Variable) | Regular APR19.49% - 27.49% (V) | Regular APR29.95% (V) |
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Sears Credit Card Review Methodology
This Sears Credit Card review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the Sears Credit Card and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the Sears Credit Card out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close Sears Credit Card is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare Sears Credit Card to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
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