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TJ Maxx Credit Card Review: TJX Rewards

Regular shoppers at TJ Maxx will be delighted to hear that there are two cards offered by this popular retail chain: the TJX Rewards credit card and the TJX Rewards Platinum Mastercard. In this TJX Rewards credit card review, we’ll compare them, analyze their features and terms, and see which card is best for you.

Card Details

The TJX Rewards cards are offered to frequent shoppers at TJ Maxx, Homegoods, Marshalls, and Sierra Trading Post. There is a general store card which can only be used in these locations, and a general Mastercard, which can be used anywhere Mastercards are accepted, while offering benefits when used in the aforementioned stores.

Both these credit cards will sting you with a high APR, one that is only a fraction less than 29%, making it one of the highest rate credit card offers you will encounter. The TJX Rewards store card requires a lower credit score, often in the Fair range, and neither of these cards charges an annual fee.

Rewards Program

Both TJX Rewards credit cards offer reward points when you spend money at the TJ Maxx department store, TJMaxx.com, and other TJX companies. 

With the TJX Rewards Mastercard, you’ll earn 5 points for every $1 that you spend with the TJX family of stores, except for Marshalls, which returns a rate of just 1 point per $1. You need 1,000 points to earn $10 in cash back and this is offered in the form of reward certificates, which can be used at TJ Maxx stores.

You will earn the same rate of returns for the store credit card, and both cards will also give you a 10% discount on your first purchase.

Alternatives to the TJ Maxx Credit Card

The TJX Rewards cards serve a purpose but pale in comparison when compared to general cash back reward credit cards and even travel cards. You will only earn points when you shop with the TJX family of stores and there is no 0% APR intro rate or sizeable welcome offer to speak of. 

What’s more, if you carry a balance then the high interest rate will sting you and make these cards very costly to maintain. With that in mind, here are some alternative cards to consider, all of which offer better rates and terms. You will likely be refused if you have Fair credit or less, but if that’s the case then it’s worth taking the time to improve your credit score to a point where these cards become viable.

Capital One Quicksilver Credit Card

With the Capital One Quicksilver, you can earn $150 worth of statement credit in your first three months as a member and 1.5% cash back thereafter. The statement credit bonus is awarded when you spend just 0 in your first three months. This is easy for most consumers, as the average monthly spending on a reward card is over $800 per month.

The Capital One Quicksilver doesn’t have any bonus categories or rotating categories; it’s just 1.5% cash back on every dollar, every single day. There are even introductory rates to lure you in. For the first 15 months, you won’t pay any interest on purchases or balances, and there are no annual fees or foreign transaction fees.

Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

The Chase Freedom Unlimited returns an unlimited rate of 1.5% every time you use your card to make purchases online or offline. It’s an alternative to the Chase Freedom, which has a flat rate of just 1% but also has bonus categories that return up to 5% for specific purchases to a fixed amount.

With the backing of one of America’s most popular banks, and the support of a very generous reward scheme, Chase Freedom is one of the best reward credit cards on the market by some way.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card is a generous travel rewards card. It’s somewhere between the most basic of travel reward credit cards and those that charge big bucks in return for truly VIP experiences. It offers lots of travel rewards in exchange for everyday purchases, but also comes with a $95 annual fee.

To make this card work, you’ll need to be spending at least a couple of thousand dollars a month. In fact, you’ll miss out on the 60,000-point welcome offer if you don’t spend $4,000 in the first three months from account opening, and when you consider that these points are worth $750 through Chase Ultimate Rewards, it’s a bonus you won’t want to miss out on.

This redemption method allows you to get a maximum return for your points when purchasing everything from airfare to car rentals and more.

Capital One Venture Credit Card

The Capital One Venture card has been called one of the best travel reward cards on the market, and it’s easy to see why. This card gives you 2x air miles on every single purchase that you make, with no fixed categories or limits and absolutely no strings attached. You can use these miles with any airline or hotel and there are no blackout dates, so you can use them any time you want throughout the year.

If that’s not enough to tempt you, then just take a look at the account opening bonus, which offers 50,000 bonus miles when you spend $3,000 in the first three months. These miles are worth around $100 for every 10,000 miles, which means this bonus equates to $500 in total.

Capital One Venture has an annual fee of $95, but this is waved for the first year and there are no foreign transaction fees or extortionate interest rates. You will even get a $100 application fee credit for use with TSA Pre or Global Entry.

Bottom Line: Not the Best Option

Everything that can be said about the TJX Rewards credit cards has been said. This is a short review, but there really isn’t much else we can talk about, and that alone should tell you everything you need to know. 

These cards may be accessible, available even affordablepapers to borrowers without impeccable credit reports and credit scores. But the rewards are poor, the terms are weak, and they just can’t compare. 

They may not be the worst credit cards or store cards out there, but we could easily list 100 other credit cards that are better than them and for that reason, we can’t recommend TJX Rewards cards to the average user.

By all means, look into the store card option if you spend a lot of money with the TJX family of stores, but know that you may not be getting the best return on your investment.