If you’re looking for a way to buy something and pay it off over time, but your credit isn’t great, you may have considered shopping with Fingerhut.
Fingerhut is a catalog and online merchant offering thousands of products ranging from electronics to bedding to auto parts, all available to buy and finance through the company’s own credit line. The retailer caters to those with less-than-stellar or nonexistent credit history, so applicants might have better odds of approval with Fingerhut than they would with some major issuers.
But unlike other credit cards for poor credit, you can only use Fingerhut credit to purchase items from the company’s offerings or authorized partners. You’ll also encounter steep prices and interest rates, so make sure you understand what you’re getting with a Fingerhut credit line.
Shopping with Fingerhut
If you’ve been approved for a Fingerhut credit account, you can log in to the company website to browse their goods or request that a paper catalog be mailed to you. Orders can be placed online, over the phone or by mail.
It’s important to know that Fingerhut charges higher prices for its merchandise than other retailers, so although it may be easier to get a credit account at Fingerhut than elsewhere, you’ll be paying a premium for the privilege to shop the catalog.
As an example, Fingerhut offers a Samsung 43″ LED Smart TV for $579.99. In larger, bolder type, it notes that payments are $46.99 per month. Without any finance charges, it would take you about a year to pay off the balance.
How Fingerhut credit works
There are two types of Fingerhut credit accounts:
- WebBank/Fingerhut Advantage Credit Account.
- Fingerhut FreshStart® Installment Loan issued by WebBank.
When you submit an application for credit on the Fingerhut website, you’re actually applying for both accounts. If you aren’t approved for the WebBank/Fingerhut Advantage Credit Account, you’ll automatically be considered for a Fingerhut FreshStart® Credit Account issued by WebBank. You won’t know which one you’re approved for until after you apply.
Both lines of credit are issued by WebBank and are designed to let you buy Fingerhut’s wares and pay for them on a payment plan with an APR of 29.99%. That’s where the similarities end.
