Verdict: The Lowe’s card is good for people that shop at Lowe’s frequently and can take advantage of the financing options like deferred payment and discounts. This card is not meant to carry a balance as the APR is a high 21.99%.
Overview:
When you decide on a credit line at Lowe’s you have two options: the Lowe’s credit card and the Lowe’s project card. The Lowe’s credit card offers special deferred payment options throughout the year with an APR of 21.99%. The Lowe’s project card requires an initial qualifying purchase of $1,000 and gives you a six month “project window” to make purchases with no payments due and no interest acrued.
How This Card Works:
The Lowe’s credit card can be used at all Lowe’s stores and at lowes.com. It’s a standard store credit card with a high APR that gives special financing options such as deferred payments and discounts throughout the year. You can apply for the Lowe’s credit card at lowes.com.
The Lowe’s project card, on the other hand, has a credit line up to $30,000 and is designed to support home improvement projects, giving you a six month “project window” in which no payments are due and no interest is acrued. There’s no annual fee for the project card and you are given 4 to 10 years of fixed payments. You can apply for the Lowe’s project card at any Lowe’s store.
Shopping and Travel Benefits:
The Lowe’s credit card gives the cardholder special financing options and benefits throughout the year at Lowe’s and lowes.com, including discounts, specials, and deferred payment options. The Lowe’s project plan gives a six month “project window” allowing you to make purchases for home improvements with no interest acrued and no payments due during the six month time period.
Fees:
For the Lowe’s credit card an APR of 21.99% applies. There’s no annual fee, and payments will be 1/35th of your balance. The grace period in which to pay your balance in full without incurring any interest is at least 26 days. Late fees are $20 for balances between $50 and $99.99, $30 for balances between $100 and $499.99, and $39 for balances above $500. The returned check fee is $20. For the Lowe’s project card the APR will range from 7.99% to 17.99% for the first project. You’re required to make a qualifying purchase of $1,000.
Pros:
- No annual fee for either card
- Financing options throughout the year
- Project card has a limit of up to $30,000
- Project card gives 6 month window to make purchases with no balance do or interest incrued
Cons:
- Lowe’s credit card has an APR of 21.99%
- No balance transfers, cash advances, rewards
(8 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
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Comments:
April 20th, 2009 at 8:27 am
[...] Shout presents Lowes Credit Card Review posted at CreditShout, saying, “If your thinking about doing a lot of home improvement this [...]
April 20th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
[...] Shout presents Lowes Credit Card Review posted at CreditShout. If you are thinking about completing home improvements using a Lowe’s [...]
May 1st, 2009 at 12:36 pm
WARNING! Do not apply for this credit card! GE bank is a terrible provider. I have had a Lowes credit card for about 5 years now and I had a good credit rating when I got the card. Now I have an excellent credit rating and I have never had a late payment with this or any other card. I always have kept a minimum of 20% available on the card and recently started to pay the whole thing off due to its high interest rate. As soon as GE bank noticed this they dropped my available credit so that I was nearly maxed out on my card. Then they just sent me a notice today that they are going to close my account with an outstanding balance. They are claiming that it is due to credit issues that I have. My credit has done nothing but improve since the day that I applied for this card. Credit card companies like this is why peoples credit scores go down! They give you a line of credit then reduce it to get you maxed out so they can hopefully get some overage fees. I will be sending them a nice package with little bits and pieces of my card.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:20 am
This is so true…Lowes did the same thing to me. I paid off a washer dryer combo that I purchased interest free. Paid it off early and they closed my account. I now shop at Home Depot. Will never shop at Lowes again.
July 30th, 2009 at 5:42 am
I’m just so over Lowe’s. My husband and I are building our own home. Which is 75% complete and has been paid for with cash. Majority of my purchases have been from Lowe’s in Gloucester VA. Employee at the store insisted, “since we were always there and spending so much money” that we should apply for their card. We applied in store for a credit card (just to make it more convenient, for records and account management) We were denied. Something about the address didn’t match their records. So a few months later I received an email offer to apply for Lowe’s Credit again. I applied was told to wait for a response, received and email that was unable to open up my info, I called the 1-800 number got someone who couldn’t speak a word of English. The rep had a hard time looking my info up?,?,? Finally he told me that I had been denied. I requested a copy of the denial and still haven’t received it. Augggggh! Just for the hell of it I went to Home Depot’s web site and applied for credit. Got approved immediately with a better interest rate and a $5000 credit limit! Got a call from a very friendly account rep (that spoke English) to verify my info and confirm that I requested the credit. It was a very nice way for Home Depot to congratulate me and welcome me to their family. Way to go Lowe’s! I wouldn’t go in that store again if my life depended on it. If Home Depot doesn’t have what I need I will order it somewhere else, wait for shipping and pay more if I have to. Home Depot vs. Lowe’s Credit and Customer Service. Home Depot is the better place to do business with!
October 1st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
The same thing happened to us. We have been Lowe’s customers for years. Granted, we didn’t use our credit card often, but when we did, it was nice to have it with the added benefit of being able to pay off major purchases over a few months.
A few months ago, out of the blue, we received a letter saying our account had been closed. I can’t remember the exact verbiage, but it came down to the fact that we weren’t carrying a balance. I was furious. Not only does an account closure ding your credit score, but it increases debt to credit ratio harming it even more. It seems that GEMB (Lowe’s credit guarantor) is punishing customers with good payment practices for those who are defaulting. That’s a pretty crummy business practice, in my opinion, and it certainly doesn’t do anything to inspire customer loyalty to Lowes.
Like Ex-Lowe’s customer above, we went to Home Depot and opened a credit account with them. And, Home Depot is where we will be purchasing our roofing supplies this spring. Lowe’s missed out on a big sale with that one and from the looks of the posts here and elsewhere online, they’re probably really going to be taking a hit due to their credit backer’s practices.
GEMB sucks and unfortunately, a lot of businesses use them. Ask the credit department at any business before you open an account if they are affiliated with GEMB and if they are, run away.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Wow, how do they get away with this? We put hardwood floors in last year, and took advantage of the special 0% promotion, and paid off the card at the end of this period. They closed our card two weeks later, and cited the lack of a revolving balance was the reason… I guess we will be going to Home Depot from now on also…
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I had a Lowe’s card. Didn’t use it much. They lowered my limit, then closed it on me. Not a good way to encourage me to shop there!
December 18th, 2009 at 2:25 am
they did the same to me we bought little things here and there to keep our credit good then they closed it and didnt even tell us i found out when i looked up my account online never shopping there agian
December 18th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
they did it to me .. i always paid on time.I didnt have a large balance and they closed my account.So thats 1 less customer that there employees will have to wait on.From the looks of it Im not alone.boycott lowes and ge credit..