Target red card people- catch?

[KarenAylwood]

Ok so what's the catch? I have avoided getting the target red card just because I assumed there was some catch and I don't "need" another credit card but if it will save me money I am all for it. We put everything on credit for the rewards (marriott) and have saved tons of money on vacations by doing this. I also have a kohls card because we do the majority of our "other" shopping there and I wait until we get a 30% off in the mail. We pay off our bills every month in full.

I now buy all of our diapers at Target (wait for when they are on sale and Cartwheel has 5% off too). The way I see it the red card would save me another 5% which would be awesome. Sometimes I get kids or adult clothes and gifts there depending on the cartwheel deals. Is the red card worth getting another credit card?

 

[3boymthr]

You don't have to get the credit card. You can also get the debit card which draws directly from your checking account and still gives you the 5% off. There is no catch as far as the debit card is concerned. Either way it's a good deal. The benefit for them is they save WAY more than 5% in visa/mc expenses.

One extra positive benefit - no more cashiers asking if you want to open a red card

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

You get 5% savings every time you use the card. If you get RX filled there and fill 5 RX 's you will get an additional 5% shopping pass for a total of 10%.. Headed to Target today with my 10% savings and the bonus 10% off for veterans day!

Oh and you get a 90 return policy on just about every thing.

 

[elgerber]

There is no catch! I grocery shop (and everything else shop) at Target. 5% off my total, every trip, no catch. I pay it off every month, so I pay no interest.

 

[Bektasmic]

I LOVE the Target debit card. And stacking with cartwheel and coupons sweetens it all the more.

My husband on the other hand isn't a fan b/c he is one of those people who doesn't like data being collected on him. I know Target collects data in other ways, too, but I think it's probably more linked with the Redcard.

Not that I mind. In fact I love that the register shoots out coffee mate creamer coupons -seems to happen when I'm running low. Target knows I need creamer before I realize it myself. Thanks for the reminder Target!

I say go for it. I think I've saved around 450.00 so far this year just with the card, buying groceries and stuff I normally buy.

And of course it allows you to basically get a 5% discount on Disney vacations, so that alone makes it worth it for me

 

[Marionnette]

Ok so what's the catch? I have avoided getting the target red card just because I assumed there was some catch and I don't "need" another credit card but if it will save me money I am all for it. We put everything on credit for the rewards (marriott) and have saved tons of money on vacations by doing this. I also have a kohls card because we do the majority of our "other" shopping there and I wait until we get a 30% off in the mail. We pay off our bills every month in full.

I now buy all of our diapers at Target (wait for when they are on sale and Cartwheel has 5% off too). The way I see it the red card would save me another 5% which would be awesome. Sometimes I get kids or adult clothes and gifts there depending on the cartwheel deals. Is the red card worth getting another credit card?

The "catch" is that they know people will spend more when they use plastic than they will if they are using cash. So, by luring you in with the promise of an across-the-board discount of 5%, they are operating under the assumption that you will spend your "savings" and then some.

If you can avoid the temptation to spend on impulse items, it's a pretty nice perk.

 

[Forum Jumper]

You still have to give them your social security number to get the debit card. I didn't like that.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

The biggest downside to the debit card is the 3-4 day delay in posting to your account it is linked to (it does not even show as pending).

 

[Chrelaine]

I haven't seen a catch to this point. I love using my Red card and saving 5% extra on everything. It's even better when you can combine a sale with Cartwheel and coupons and then pay with Red card to get 5% more. I also love hassle free returns without a receipt if you purchased on a Red card. (Although I think they can track all cards for returns.)
I would never get it if you can't pay it off in full each month. The interest is ridiculous and would negate any savings.

 

[ellochka]

You still have to give them your social security number to get the debit card. I didn't like that.

I don't like it either, however, most likely, they would not store your SSN. They would just send it to their credit vendor and get back your score. Storing the number is a liability for them. Alternatively, sometimes retailers can take any of your open credit card numbers and do a check on your history without even knowing your SSN. The credit bureau knows whom the card belong to, and returns your score. I am not sure that way is possible at Target.

 

[Forum Jumper]

I don't like it either, however, most likely, they would not store your SSN. They would just send it to their credit vendor and get back your score. Storing the number is a liability for them. Alternatively, sometimes retailers can take any of your open credit card numbers and do a check on your history without even knowing your SSN. The credit bureau knows whom the card belong to, and returns your score. I am not sure that way is possible at Target.

I should ask them if they are storing my number. Good point.

 

[ellochka]

I should ask them if they are storing my number. Good point.

A store clerk would not know. There is no information about it online, so I would assume they did not include it in customer service communications. Now thinking of it, they will probably store your last 4 digits for identification purposes. That kind of sucks, too.

 

[Pigeon]

I cut up my red card credit card. My bill arrived at odd times, often with a very short window on when the payment was due and I was late on one payment. The late fee they smacked on (a very small bill I just didn't get in the mail fast enough) was enough to negate any savings I would make all year. I've never had a problem with a credit card like that before.

 

[disney1990]

Absolutely love my Target RED Card. Just today I bought a Starbucks Gift card for my son in law for his B'Day. Even get 5% off that. You can't beat it.

We buy Disney Gift Cards (at 5% off) and pay for our Disney Cruises & our Disney vacations.

And Free Shipping all the time when you order online.

 

[JillianMarie]

No catch. The beautiful part is that you can load it from a credit card in store. Take your marriott card you put everything on, load $300 for diapers onto the prepaid card. Use the prepaid card to pay for diapers. Pay your credit card bill as usual. Get 5% off AND your marriott points. It's great because it's not a credit card or debit card so you set the budget - once it's gone, it's gone until you reload it.

The SS # thing is just because you can't buy more than 1 a day. It doesn't store in the system. When you go home to register it, the SS # information isn't stored on the account. If, for whatever reason, you happened to type in the wrong SS# no one would ever know. It's been pretty heavily discussed in the miles/points circles. The catch is that I doubt they'll allow direct credit card loads in store for too terribly long, but you should still be able to load it at home.

 

[Marionnette]

No catch. The beautiful part is that you can load it from a credit card in store. Take your marriott card you put everything on, load $300 for diapers onto the prepaid card. Use the prepaid card to pay for diapers. Pay your credit card bill as usual. Get 5% off AND your marriott points. It's great because it's not a credit card or debit card so you set the budget - once it's gone, it's gone until you reload it.

The SS # thing is just because you can't buy more than 1 a day. It doesn't store in the system. When you go home to register it, the SS # information isn't stored on the account. If, for whatever reason, you happened to type in the wrong SS# no one would ever know. It's been pretty heavily discussed in the miles/points circles. The catch is that I doubt they'll allow direct credit card loads in store for too terribly long, but you should still be able to load it at home.

You've lost me here.

What "pre-paid" card are you talking about?

The Target REDCard debit card is linked to your bank account. It's a debit card, not a pre-paid card.

There is a Target REDCard (which is a charge card) and a Target Visa (which is a credit card). Neither of those require any dollar amount to be loaded onto it.

Other than those cards, I don't know of any card that offers a 5% Target discount for purchases. Can you clarify for me?

 

[judydvc]

I have both the Target Visa (which I seldom use) and the debut card which I use a lot. I can buy many things I need at Target and sometimes skip any other store. Not only do you get 5% off but Target will donate 1% to a school of your choice.

 

[JillianMarie]

You've lost me here.

What "pre-paid" card are you talking about?

The Target REDCard debit card is linked to your bank account. It's a debit card, not a pre-paid card.

There is a Target REDCard (which is a charge card) and a Target Visa (which is a credit card). Neither of those require any dollar amount to be loaded onto it.

Other than those cards, I don't know of any card that offers a 5% Target discount for purchases. Can you clarify for me?

Ooooooooooh. I see now. I misread. Target is rolling out a new prepaid redcard that runs on the AmEx network. Walmart has a version called BlueBird (which is awful, BTW) - you might've run across the name in connection with the savings catcher. As in 'load your savings catcher savings onto Bluebird and double your money!' Basically, it's a product where you load money (from either a debit card, credit card, gift card or good old cash) and then spend it. You can link it to a checking account if you'd like, but you don't have to. You can use it exclusively at Target, but you don't have to. You can use it to pay bills if you want to (which is how I've always used this sort of thing). Load Redbird (which is what they're calling it, I think) from your miles earning credit card ---> use Redbird to buy your Target stuff ---> earn miles by using your card as well as save 5% for using your Target branded prepaid card. It's pretty genius.

Like I said, it's getting some play in points/miles circles because there's a bill pay feature. Personally, I load the card at my Target and then use the bill pay system to pay bills that won't take credit cards. That way I get points for paying that bill, and my electric bill gets paid with a check the same way it would if I used bill pay through Wells Fargo. Everyone is a winner.

Read all about it. https://amex.serve.com/prepaidredcard/?ref=sr_shorturl_prepaidredcard

My personal opinion is that something like this is the future of online shopping and data protection. I mean, why would I ever have to use a credit or debit card online again? This doesn't link to my bank account so I can't get cleaned out that way. It has a finite amount of money on it so I don't have to worry about someone running up a $10,000 credit card bill without me noticing. I'm at Target all the time, so it's super easy to add money to and I'd get 5% off without the risk of having it on my credit report or linked to my checking account.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

I have the Target Redcard credit card and love it! I treat it as a store card--like Kohl's. I don't use it anywhere else so I'm not tempted to charge extras. But I use it every time I shop at Target, even for little things. It's an extra 5% off every single time. Just pay it off each month to avoid extra charges and it's a big savings over the course of the year. Also, you get free shipping at Target.com any time. I go through Ebates, order from Target, and get free shipping---win, win win! (Just with Ebates worked on the Disney GCs---it doesn't, I've tried!) And you can also combine the 5% Redcard savings with anything on Cartwheel and the Target printable coupons too. Love it!

 

[elgerber]

Ooooooooooh. I see now. I misread. Target is rolling out a new prepaid redcard that runs on the AmEx network. Walmart has a version called BlueBird (which is awful, BTW) - you might've run across the name in connection with the savings catcher. As in 'load your savings catcher savings onto Bluebird and double your money!' Basically, it's a product where you load money (from either a debit card, credit card, gift card or good old cash) and then spend it. You can link it to a checking account if you'd like, but you don't have to. You can use it exclusively at Target, but you don't have to. You can use it to pay bills if you want to (which is how I've always used this sort of thing). Load Redbird (which is what they're calling it, I think) from your miles earning credit card ---> use Redbird to buy your Target stuff ---> earn miles by using your card as well as save 5% for using your Target branded prepaid card. It's pretty genius.

Like I said, it's getting some play in points/miles circles because there's a bill pay feature. Personally, I load the card at my Target and then use the bill pay system to pay bills that won't take credit cards. That way I get points for paying that bill, and my electric bill gets paid with a check the same way it would if I used bill pay through Wells Fargo. Everyone is a winner.

Read all about it. https://amex.serve.com/prepaidredcard/?ref=sr_shorturl_prepaidredcard

Hmmm, now that is interesting!