Main Benefits：
• Save 25% on your first purchase
• “At least 12 Special Offers every year…”
• 15% discount when the card arrives
• Opportunity to become a Most Valued Customer
Annual Fee：$0
APR：27.24% (variable)
Late Fee：up to $37

Who is the Kohl’s Charge card best for? 

This store-branded card is most useful for shoppers who frequent the retail chain often and those who aren’t bothered by combining multiple discount programs. You’ll need this to find the best possible price (we’ll explain more in the drawbacks section of this review).

Kohl’s Charge Card Benefits

The Kohl’s Charge card is a bit different than other store-branded cards in that it doesn’t give shoppers an everyday discount. Instead, cardholders get at least 12 special offers every year. Kohl’s defines these special offers as additional discounts on their sale prices.

Cardholders receive their special offers in the form of scratch-off coupons that arrive in the mail once a month. You then scratch to reveal either 15%, 20% or 30% off your entire purchase for the offer period, which is usually a fairly limited amount of time (a couple days).

Another main benefit is the 25% discount on a customer’s first purchase in-store or online.

Of course, there are a number of restrictions including (but not limited to):
• Gift cards
• Fragrance
• Prestige brands of cosmetics/skincare
• Select electronics
• Consumables
• Premium sunglasses
• Sporting goods & sports team merchandise, including many popular brands like Nike, Columbia, Dyson, Under Armour, etc.

Additionally, shoppers get another 15% off discount when the credit card arrives in the mail. The same stipulations as the 25% off discount apply here as well.

The last main benefit of the Kohl’s Charge card is the opportunity to become an MVC (Most Valued Customer) after spending $600 on the card per calendar year. With the upgrade to MVC, shoppers will receive an additional 6 special offers (at least) for a grand total of 18 or more.

Additional Card Features

The Kohl’s credit card has a few additional notable features:
• $0 annual fee
• Receipt-free returns on purchases made with the card
• Advance notification of Kohl’s Charge sales events
• Access to My Kohl’s Charge online account management platform

Fees & Drawbacks of the Kohl’s Card

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Kohl’s Charge card is not having the ability to use rewards anytime. Your special offers are only good for a certain period of time — if you miss it, you’re out of luck.

Additionally, your rewards can get confusing because Kohl’s offers 2 other programs independent of the Kohl’s Charge card: Yes2You Rewards and Kohl’s Cash.

Yes2You earns shoppers 1 point for every $1 spent, earning a $5 reward for every 100 points. Yes2You members also get 8 savings offers a year, a free birthday gift, opportunities to earn bonus points, and more.

Kohl’s Cash is a program where shoppers earn $10 Kohl’s Cash for every $50 they spend. The coupon is sent via email or automatically stored in the app. You can’t use Kohl’s cash for gift cards or Kohl’s Cares merchandise.

The good news is, the Special Offers from your Kohl’s Charge card can be combined with Yes2You points rewards AND Kohl’s Cash (they cannot be combined with Yes2You savings or percent-off offers). The Kohl’s Charge percent-off coupon is applied after all other discounts are taken.

The bad news is, they can only be stacked when the promotion dates overlap. This can get really confusing if you have a tough time keeping track of your coupons and their respective promo dates. This is also really frustrating if you’ve got a busy schedule and miss out on the prime days to save or miss out on your promo dates altogether.

Another big drawback of the Kohl’s Charge card is the high APR. At 27.24%, cardholders who carry a balance will accrue hefty interest fees quickly, especially with low minimum payments stretched over long periods of time. Additionally, late fees will cost you up to $37.