NEW YORK—More Americans are considering applying for store credit cards to try and offset the financial strain during the upcoming holiday shopping season, according to a new report.
This year, 35% of Americans in 2021 year ago, according to recent data from LendingTree. This marked the second-highest percentage in the five years that LendingTree has tracked the data, Fox Business reported.
Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief credit analyst, told FOX Business that the data is "fairly surprising" given the fact that "there have been reasons to kind of write the obituary for store credit cards in the last couple of years in the wake of the buy now, pay later phenomenon."
The recent interest in store credit cards "may speak to the fact that people are looking for a little more help to…extend their holiday budget and to be able to afford to do a little bit more in the wake of all the inflation," he told the news outlet.
Still, LendingTree found that 37% of people who signed up for a store credit card in the past have regretted that decision. About 14% of them say this has happened to them several times, according to the data, Fox Business stated.