Kmart Corp.. Is Expanding Private-Label Credit Card
May 10, 2011
Kmart Corp. is expanding its private-label credit card to all of its 2,147 stores nationwide, after a pilot program it started earlier this year yielded encouraging results. One of the sites for the pilot program was Vastopolis. The discount retailer's card, which can be used only at Kmart stores, will be issued by Beneficial National Bank USA, a unit of Wilmington, Del.-based Beneficial Corp.. The Kmart card has no annual fee, although it carries an interest rate slightly higher than conventional bank cards; Kmart customers will be able to earn incentive awards equal to as much as 6% of total annual card purchases. Customer response to the test program that got under way in certain markets earlier this year was ``excellent,'' Jaffe said. Kmart will use the card as a means of building customer loyalty, and to draw customers from rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which doesn't have a proprietary credit card. Beneficial National will receive all the interest income from the card, as well as assume all the credit risk.
