Maybe good for financing big purchases, but not much else. Information in this review was last checked for accuracy on April 22, 2024.
Home Depot offers a credit card (in partnership with Citi) that allows you to buy on credit at Home Depot and offers you special financing on larger purchases, but not much else. (And even that special financing may have strings attached!) Is it worth adding to your wallet?
Buy On Credit But No Rewards
While the Home Depot credit card has no annual fee and allows you to buy today and pay later, there isn’t much other incentive to use the card unless you are taking advantage of a financing offer.
It offers no rewards points program like so many other retailers do. You may get the occasional discount offer as a cardholder, but it’s nothing you can count on, and you get no special treatment for being a frequent Home Depot customer.
Can Only Be Used at Home Depot
The Home Depot credit card can be used in Home Depot stores and on Home Depot.com. However, it can not be used at other merchants because it is not a Visa or Mastercard or American Express or Discover credit card.
Instant Approval and New Cardholder Bonus Offer
You may be instantly approved when you apply for a Home Depot credit card. If you are, you not only can use the card immediately, but you also may have the opportunity to get a one-time bonus discount as a new cardholder on the day that you open the card account.
This bonus varies (and is not always available), but the most recent bonus was up to $100 off purchases made on the same day that you open the card account — $25 off if you spend between $25 and $299 with the card, $50 when spending $300 to $999, and $100 if spending $1000 or more.
Return Window Extended for Cardholders
Home Depot credit card holders get the return period on purchases extended to one year when you purchase with the card. However, the normal return period is a generous 90 days, which is probably good enough for the vast majority of Home Depot purchases. Still, the extended return window adds some security on higher-priced items.
Special Financing (Nice But Beware!)
0% for 6-12 Months
For Home Depot purchases of $299 or more, you can choose to take advantage of special 0% financing that allows you to pay off the purchase over a six-month or twelve-month period without paying any interest.
However, a warning: the 0% financing offer you receive is “deferred financing” that requires you to pay off the complete balance within that 6-month or 12-month period.
If you don’t pay every last penny of the purchase within that period, you’ll have to pay interest on the full purchase price, backdated to the day you made the purchase. In essence, if you don’t pay every penny on time, it’s like the 0% financing never existed and you get all the interest piled on at one time.
0% for Up To 24 Months
Sometimes (not always) Home Depot will offer 0% financing to its cardholders for longer periods of time, as long as 24 months in some cases. We have seen 0% offers for large purchases like carpet purchase and installation, fence purchase & installation, and other big-ticket items.
These 0% offers can’t be counted on to be available like the 0% offer described above, but they can be a good way to finance a big project.
Interest Rate
The interest rate on the Home Depot credit card could be as low as 17.99% APR up to as high as 29.99% APR. While those potential interest rates are definitely high, they are in line with many retail store cards (and even a little lower than the 30%+ rates seen on some other cards).
Avoid that high interest by paying off your complete card balance every month!
Approval Chances
Like most retail store credit cards, your chances of being approved for the Home Depot credit card are better than they would be for major bank credit cards.
While there are no guarantees in terms of who is approved and who is declined, if your credit score is 650 or above, your odds of approval are very high. Below 650, your odds would be less, and would becomes progressively worse the further below 650 you are.
Home Depot Credit Card vs. Lowe’s Credit Card Discount
While Home Depot cardholders get very limited benefits, Home Depot’s biggest competitor, Lowe’s, offers a credit card that gives a 5% discount on almost all purchases made with the card at Lowe’s.
Unless Lowe’s charges 5% more than Home Depot on everything (which we assume it doesn’t but we haven’t done an in-depth comparison), then it seems like the Lowe’s credit card is the better deal. (The Lowe’s card offers special financing options, too.)
Bottom Line
It’s hard to think of a reason you’d get the Home Depot credit card other than to take advantage of a 0% financing offer. It simply doesn’t offer much else, and in most cases you’d be better off using a different credit card for your Home Depot purchases, especially if you like to earn rewards on your card purchases.
See our pages that list the Best Credit Cards Today or Best Cash Back Credit Cards for better options on most Home Depot purchases.
How To Apply
You can apply for a Home Depot credit card in a Home Depot store or online. Click here for the online application.
Author: Adam Jusko