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Tuesday, February 9th 2010


U.S. retail store credit card comparison table

By Tyler Metzger

Here are the top issuers of retail store credit cards in 2007. There are two kinds of retail credit cards: private label, the dominant form, in which a bank runs the card program on behalf of the retailer; and in-house, in which the retailer runs its own card program. Approvals for most store credit cards are expected to shrink in the coming months as retailers and banks both tighten credit card lending standards due to the ailing economy.

Rank Issuer Outstandings Charge volume Cards
    in mil. %chg in mil. %chg in thous. %chg
  Private Label
           
1 GE Money $36,920.2 4% $61,856.6 -2% 273,741 -4%
2 Citi $29,460.0 5% $21,500.0 -1% 57,960 -3%
3 HSBC $17,411.0 5% $23,082.0 4% 36,400 2%
4 Chase $4,346.0 12% $10,439.9 38% 34,604 -10%
5 Alliance Data(1) $4,002.6 -2% $7,079.5 -1% 94,239 -15%
6 Wells Fargo $2,988.6 3% $4,006.3 -1% 4,205 -23%
7 TD Retail(2) $480.0 2% $640.0 3% 1,060 6%
  Other $639.2 -4% $1,665.6 -5% 2,717 -7%
  Total private $96,247.6 4% $130,269.8 1% 504,925 -6%
  In-house            
1 AAFES* $2,327.1 10% $1,509.5 5% 1,804 7%
2 Signet/Sterling $900.6 9% $1,422.4 4% 1,555 5%
3 Nordstrom $706.9 6% $1,532.7 4% 4,926 5%
4 Charming Shoppes $595.9 77% $858.8 84% 15,100 57%
5 Target $544.9 -17% $1,198.2 -23% 8,285 -15%
6 Cato $46.8 -6% $862.7 5% 558 -12%
  Other(3) $560.0 -3% $1,165.0 -76% 8,400 -5%
  Total in-house $5,682.2 9% $8,549.2 -29% 40,627 11%
  Total store cards $101,929.8 5% $138,819.1 -1% 545,553 -5%

(1) Lane Bryant moved in-house to parent Charming Shoppes and purged old accounts on file. (2) Formerly Shoppers Charge Accounts. (3) Charge volume for 2006 included partial year figures for Kohl's, Belk and Peir 1 before their sale to private label issuers. *Army & Air Force Exchange. Percent change is calculated from 2006 data.
Source: The Nilson Report, July 2008

See related: Retailers tightening credit card standards

Published: November 10, 2008

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Credit Card Rate Report

Updated: 02-09-2010

National Average 14.15%
Business 11.32%
Low Interest 12.17%
Cash Back 12.56%
Balance Transfer 12.71%
Reward 13.77%
Airline 14.17%
Student 14.47%
Instant Approval 18.41%
Bad Credit 24.86%

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