Overview | JCPenney Credit Cards

To begin, apply for the card at JCPenney’s store in-person or online. Depending on your creditworthiness, you’ll be issued one of two available store-branded credit cards (both issued by Synchrony Bank): the JCPenney Card and JCPenney Mastercard. Approval is either instantaneous or may take 7-10 days to receive an approval.

It should be noted that you don’t have an option to choose which card you’ll be approved for when applying. However, regular cardholders of the basic JCPenney Card may be able to upgrade to the JCPenney Mastercard, if they meet specific qualifying criteria.

The JCPenney Card

As the basic store-branded credit card, the JCPenney Card can only be used to make purchases at JCPenney, Sephora stores (located inside JCPenney stores), as well as some participating Rite Aid and CVS stores. Also, the online websites for each are also viable for using your JCPenney Card, including JCPenney.com, Sephora.com, and Riteaid.com. However, at the time of this writing, stand-alone Sephora stores do not accept the JCPenney Card.

There are a number of perks that you can receive for signing up with the JCPenney Card. First, immediately upon signing up, cardholders earn a first purchase discount. This means that you can save:
• 15% off JCPenney’s selection of apparel, shoes, salon products, accessories, jewelry, furniture, mattresses, and other home purchases
• 15% off custom shades and blinds (U.S.-based stores only)
• 5% of major appliances (U.S.-based stores only)
• 5% off electronics (including televisions), smart watches, and Modern Bride® Design Your Dream Ring.

Also, if you have to wait for card approval after applying for your JCPenney card and don’t receive an instant credit decision when applying, approved cardholders will receive a $10 coupon in their credit card package.

Next, you’ll receive double member reward points, which means that for every dollar you spend at qualifying locations, you’ll earn 1 point. The “double” meaning can be confusing, as the 1:1 earning ratio seems odd–however, regular basic JCPenney Rewards members  (non-cardholders) only receive 1 point for every $2 spent. Hence, the “double” distinction.

The JCPenney Card comes with exclusive coupons and special savings days, which enables cardholders to receive even greater discounts than regular rewards members on Special Savings Days (such as Memorial Day sales).

Another perk you’ll receive is that you’ll receive a $10 certificate for every 200 points earned. This means that making $200 in purchases nets your $10, or each point equals $.05.

Birthday offers also come with having the JCPenney card in your wallet. This means that if you’ve made at least 1 purchase in the past 12 months and keep your account in good standing, you can receive a birthday gift around the day you were born.

Perhaps one of the better benefits of signing up for the JCPenney Card is for the special financing offers. For some products and merchandise that JCPenney carries (i.e. mattresses, furniture, jewelry, major appliances, and more), you may qualify for special financing in increments of 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, or 60 months. Be aware that the fine print of special financing offers, as you may be responsible for paying off the entire purchase in the allocated time frame to avoid being slapped with the substantial APR of this card.

JCPenney Mastercard

The JCPenney Mastercard includes all of the aforementioned benefits and perks of the JCPenney Card, while also enabling cardholders to use this card anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

One clear distinction that separates this credit card from other store-branded credit cards (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, Discover) is that you don’t earn points on making outside purchases. This limitation may turn off those who use the JCPenney Mastercard on other purchases to earn more points.

Pros

Rewards certificates automatically issued in $10 increments for every 200 points you earn

Certificates can be combined with other discounts or coupons

Points don’t expire as long as you earn points every 12 months

Cons

Certificates expire quickly (certificates valid for a minimum of 45 days)

Earn a maximum of 2,000 points on a single purchase

Redeem no more than 10 certificates ($100) per purchase (9 if you use a coupon code at jcp.com)

Certificates only redeemable at JCPenney stores and jcp.com