Banana republic?
Banana Republic is an American clothing and accessories retailer owned by the US multinational Gap Inc.
It was founded in 1978 by Mel and Patricia Ziegler, who originally called it the “Banana Republic Travel and Safari Clothing Company.” The company’s original idea was to sell items to suit a Safari theme. In 1983, Gap bought the company, changed the name to “Banana Republic” and changed the name of the stores to achieve a more exclusive image. In 2016, the brand announced Olivia Palermo as its first global style ambassador for women.
How does the Banana Republic credit card work?
The Banana Republic card is a Visa Inc. (V) credit card issued by Synchrony Financial (SYF). It can be used in all Gap brand stores, such as Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta, as well as anywhere a Visa card is accepted. The Banana Republic credit card is a chip card with enhanced fraud prevention services that provide an additional level of encryption. The cardholder can also add an authorized user to the credit card to make purchases, but purchases made by the authorized user cannot be claimed as fraud by the primary cardholder.
The Banana Republic Credit card Rewards & Benefits
The Banana Republic credit card offers many rewards in terms of discounts, cashback, and sales. When a customer opens a Banana Republic credit card, the first purchase made with that card at a Gap brand store is eligible for a 15% discount. Each purchase made with the credit card receives points: five points for every $ 1 spent at Gap brand stores and one point for every $ 1 spent elsewhere, along with a $ 5 reward for every 500 points accumulated. Unused points during that billing cycle are transferred to the next cycle up to 24 months before they are lost. These rewards can be used both online and in person.
Banana Republic cardholders are eligible to upgrade their card to Banana Republic Luxe. For a cardholder to update, he must earn 5,000 reward points annually, keep the account up to date and make the minimum payments due on the account. The Luxe card offers more benefits, such as a quarterly bonus of 20% of the rewards earned that quarter, days of purchases with a triple point value and unlimited modifications of Banana Republic merchandise
3 Things to Know About the Banana Republic Visa Credit Card
1. Don’t carry a balance: The Banana Republic Visa credit card does not offer an introductory period without interest for purchases. The current APR is 28.24% variable. That is about 10 percentage points more than the average interest rate on credit card accounts. Therefore, this particular store card is not good for financing a new wardrobe or for carrying a continuous balance.
2. The rewards are complicated: The Banana Republic Visa credit card rewards you for shopping in Banana Republic and sister brands under the umbrella of Gap Inc., including Gap, Old Navy, and Athleta. There is a store-only version of the card, but the Banana Republic Visa credit card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted. Win:
5 points for every $ 1 spent on Gap Inc. brands, in the store and online. 1 point for every $ 1 spent elsewhere points are worth 1 cent each, but cannot be redeemed for cash and can only be used as currency in the store. In other words, $ 10 in rewards allow you to eliminate $ 10 from a purchase. Rewards are issued in increments of $ 5, which means that you must first earn a minimum of 500 points up to a maximum of $ 50 at a time. There is also a total rewards limit of $ 250 per billing cycle.
All orphan points that you accumulate in a billing cycle, less than the minimum required, not enough to take you to the next $ 5 level, or more than the allowed limit, will be transferred to the next month. Unused reward points expire two years after your most recent purchase.
It is a complicated system, especially for rewards that can only be redeemed for Gap Inc. products. You could get better results with a simple flat-rate cash back credit card with no minimum redemption requirements and no rewards due date.
3. Providing your email and going paperless earns extra rewards: As of June 2019, the Banana Republic Visa® credit card website offers cardholders the opportunity to earn up to $ 10 in bonus rewards by sending their email address (worth 500 points) and opting for electronic invoicing (worth another 500 points). It is obvious, especially since registering your email address means that you will receive news and offers relevant to a brand that you have already adopted.
