A bank teller in Tulsa changed my mind about store cards

I always trash talked retail credit cards, figured they were just traps for people who cant math. Then last month I went to my local Chase branch in Tulsa to sort out a fraud thing, and the teller walked me through how her Macy's card cut her car loan rate by 40 points after 8 months. She showed me the utilization trick, keeping the balance under 10% and paying it off every week. Now I'm wondering if I should grab one with a gas rewards program for the shop van, but I still hate the idea of another hard pull. Anyone else see a store card work out better than a regular one?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.hannah17d ago

Did that teller mention if the hard pull dinged her score much?

jamesc7917d agoMost Upvoted

Last year I had a car loan pull and it only cost me 6 points, but my buddy saw a 22 point drop from a credit card application. It really depends on what else is sitting on your report at that moment. The teller probably didn't know all the details about the score model the bank uses or how many inquiries she already had. I mean, a hard pull is temporary and usually fades in a few months, but people get way too scared of them. Maybe it's just me, but I'd worry more about her utilization rate than one single inquiry.