Main advantages

Store card benefits are often limited to the brand – and this card is no exception.

Earn JCPenney Rewards on every card purchase

Probably the main draw of the JCPenney credit card for most users is the JCPenney rewards you can earn with every card purchase. You’ll earn 1 point for every $1 on your JCPenney purchases when you use your card, whether you’re shopping in-store or online. That’s double the rewards you could earn as a regular member of JCPenney Rewards (they earn 1 point for every $2 spent).

You will receive a $10 reward certificate for every 200 points earned. This gives you an effective value of $0.05 per point, or 5% back on JCPenney purchases. Although this is a fairly competitive rate – 5% back is about as good as most cash back cards – keep in mind that your JCPenney rewards can only be used on JCPenney purchases. It also cannot be redeemed as a statement credit to pay for past purchases.

Another thing to note is that there is a cap on the number of rewards you can earn per trade. Specifically, you can earn a maximum of 2,000 points for a single transaction. So if you buy something big, like an expensive piece of jewelry, you could hit that cap and lose additional rewards.

New cardholders get a 15% discount coupon

Most rewards credit cards these days come with some type of sign-up bonus. For store credit cards, this bonus usually comes in the form of a one-time discount. The JCPenney Credit Card falls into this category, offering new cardholders who apply online an additional 15% off purchases made the day you open and use your new card. You can also combine this discount with another eligible coupon for additional savings. You can find a different new cardholder offer by applying in store.

Although 15% is a solid discount, you will have to spend a little to compare with other sign-up bonuses. For example, a typical bonus on a no annual fee card is $200. You’ll need to make a purchase of $1,333 on your JCPenney credit card to get that much value from the new cardholder discount.

Cardholders can access exclusive savings days

While the rewards and discount for new cardholders are fairly easy to quantify, this particular benefit of the JCPenney credit card is a bit more nebulous. According to JCPenney, credit cardholders have access to “over 150 days of credit savings” with exclusive discounts.

These additional savings are magnified if you are a heavy JCPenney buyer. If you spend $500 or more in a calendar year, you will become a JCPenney Gold Member, which will unlock a special coupon booklet. Spending $1,000 or more in a calendar year earns you Platinum status. Platinum cardholders get all the benefits of the lower tiers, plus bonus points days and special sale days with up to 30% off.

No annual card fees

A really nice benefit of the JCPenney credit card is that there is no annual card fee. This means there are no additional fees just to keep your card account open. The lack of annual fees is a must-have advantage of a store credit card, since most of us don’t even shop at our favorite stores every week. With no annual fee, you can keep your JCPenney credit card active and ready for holiday shopping or spring fashion without having to worry about paying for a card you don’t use the rest of the year.

Special financing on certain purchases

JCPenney credit card users will sometimes have access to special financing offers on certain major purchases. For example, you could earn 0% interest for 18 months on qualifying furniture or mattress purchases.

This particular benefit of the JCPenney credit card is kind of a double-edged sword. This is because it uses deferred interest. Basically, you’ll pay 0% interest if — and alone if — you refund the full amount of your purchase within the set time period. If you have a balance left after the promotional period ends, you will owe interest on the entire balance.

So let’s say you get the 18 month supply for a $500 mattress. If you pay off the entire $500 balance before the end of 18 months, you’re good to go without interest charges. If, however, you are short – even by a few dollars – you will be charged interest on the full $500 balance.