The 11 Best Credit Cards for Shopping at Target [2024]

Target is one of the most recognizable companies in the U.S. Dubbed as the 11th-best retail brand by Brand Finance in 2021,¹ it’s no wonder lots of Americans find their way back to Target time and time again.

As one of the largest retailers in the U.S., Target also enjoys tremendously high customer satisfaction and NPS scores (how likely a customer is to recommend Target to a friend or colleague), akin to what you’d see at Costco.

Its locations across the U.S. have clothing, toys, electronics, home improvement goods, and pharmaceutical products, and some even have grocery sections! Whatever your needs, Target is likely to stock the items you are looking for.

But before you make a Target run, take a minute to figure out what the best credit cards are for shopping at Target. In this guide, we’ll show you the exact steps to figure out which credit card is best for your needs.

If you follow our guide’s detailed explanations, including key tips on how your purchases at your favorite Target location code, you’ll be massively rewarded with lots of points.

Let’s get started!

What To Look for in a Credit Card for Shopping at Target

Whenever you make a purchase using your credit card, numerous things are going on behind the scenes. One of these things that happens is that your purchase gets categorized depending on what the merchant category code (MCC) is.

And your merchant category code can vary depending on which exact merchant location you shop at. In the case of Target, your in-store purchases will count as 1 of the following 2 categories:

• 5310 — Discount stores/warehouse/wholesale
• 5411 — Grocery stores/supermarkets/bakeries

So why is this important? Well, if the Target location you routinely shop at is coded as 5411, then you can actually get bonus points as you would with other grocery stores and supermarkets.

On the flip side, if your local Target location is coded as 5310, you may want to use a different credit card.

So how do you figure out what merchant category code your Target location falls under? Unfortunately, this has gotten a lot harder than it has been in the past.

Before, we’d simply use the Visa Supplier Locator Tool; however, this has since been taken down, so the best way to figure out which MCC your local Target falls under is to make test purchases on your credit card.

In the past, you’d see specific locations by MCC as shown in this image:

Nowadays, it requires a lot of trial and error to figure it out.

Sadly, Amex specifically excludes Target as a supermarket, even if it initially codes as a supermarket, so this would generally only work on non-Amex cards. We’ll have to look for cards that offer bonus categories at supermarkets that aren’t Amex cards.

As a last general rule of thumb, you should strive to shop at a Target that codes as a supermarket, as long as it’s not too far out of the way. In the next section, we’ll be showing you our recommendations for the best personal credit cards for shopping at Target.

The 7 Best Personal Credit Cards for Shopping at Target

Card Summary

Card	Welcome Bonus and Annual Fee	Benefits for Shopping at Target
Citi Premier® Card	Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel portal through June 30, 2024. Annual fee of $95	3x points at supermarkets
Target RedCard™	No welcome offer available. Annual fee of $0	5% discount on Target purchases
Citi Double Cash® Card	Earn $200 cash back after spending $1,500 in the first 6 months. Annual fee of $0	2% cash-back on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases (earned as ThankYou Points)
Chase Freedom Unlimited®	Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) — worth up to $300 cash back. That's 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases. Annual fee of $0	At least 1.5% cash-back on purchases 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 20.49% - 29.24%.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card	Earn 75,000 miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Annual fee of $95 (rates & fees)	2x miles on all non-bonus purchases
American Express® Gold Card	Earn 60,000 points when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months. Annual fee of $250 (rates & fees)	4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; 1x thereafter)
Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express	Earn a $200 statement credit after spending $2,000 in purchases in the first 6 months. Annual fee of $0 (rates & fees)	3% cash-back at U.S. online retailers including Target.com (up to $6,000 in purchases per year)

Citi Premier^® Card

Our favorite credit card for Target purchases is the Citi Premier card. In our experience, Mastercard is very generous about categorizing Target locations as grocery stores and supermarkets, which is a huge boon.

To begin, this credit card offers an awesome bonus that is worth several years of the annual fee alone.

But you’ll find that this card is incredibly rewarding for numerous bonus categories:

• 3x ThankYou Points on supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations, air travel, and hotels
• 1x ThankYou Points on all other purchases

In addition to these immense bonus categories, you’ll get an annual hotel savings benefit of $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) through thankyou.com once per calendar year, World Elite Mastercard benefits, purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, and access to the Citi Concierge and Citi Entertainment.

There are also no foreign transaction fees with this contactless card and no additional fees for authorized users.

Why We Like Earning Citi ThankYou Rewards Points

As we mentioned, the Citi Premier card earns ThankYou Points — moreover, this card has the ability to transfer points to a large list of travel partners.

But having the ability to earn 3x Citi ThankYou Points on a huge laundry list of useful bonus categories with a modest annual fee is incredible — Citi ThankYou Points are worth around 1.6 cents each, according to our valuations, which means that your 3x points are equivalent to a 4.8% return on spending.

You can easily increase the value you get by transferring your points to travel partners and booking luxury flights like Emirates first class or Cathay Pacific business class.

Target RedCard™

The Target RedCard is one of the best credit cards for big spenders at Target. And although you won’t get a return on spend that is higher than the card choices above, you will get the opportunity to earn a 5% discount on Target purchases, regardless of how different locations may have varying merchant category codes.

You will save 5% on most Target and Target.com purchases with the Target RedCard. It’ll also get you free 2-day delivery on most purchases, as well as an extended return policy.

Some exclusions of the 5% savings include:

• Alcohol purchases in Indiana
• Gift wrapping services
• Prescriptions, over-the-counter items located behind the pharmacy counter, and clinic services at Target
• Previous purchases
• Shipt membership fees
• Target credit account payments, Target RedCard™ Debit cash-back and cash advances on the Target RedCard™ Mastercard, Target gift cards and prepaid cards, Game On, Gift of College, and lottery gift cards
• Target Optical eye exams and protection plans (Target Optical products, such as glasses and contact lenses, do receive the 5% discount)
• Taxes, shipping, delivery, handling, and all other fees or charges
• Wireless protection program purchases and deposits required by mobile carrier
• Where otherwise prohibited by law

There’s no annual fee for this card, and the Target RedCard applies the discount automatically at the time of purchase, instead of rewarding points or cash-back after your purchase.

However, this card has very high interest rates, doesn’t offer any travel benefits, and is strictly only usable at Target locations and Target.com (unless you are upgraded to the Target RedCard™ Mastercard that can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted).

Citi Double Cash^® Card

Our next choice is the Double Cash card, which is actually one of the most potent rewards credit cards out there.

On the surface level, you might not think there’s anything particularly special about this card. You might think that the 2% cash-back you’d earn (1% at purchase and 1% when you pay, earned as ThankYou Points) might not be anything to write home about, but this card is special for a few reasons.

If you have a ThankYou Rewards credit card like the Citi Premier card or the Citi Prestige^® Card, you can tap into the full list of Citi’s airline transfer partners.

Earning 2% on all purchases (with no caps) is unmatched for a no-annual-fee credit card.

The Double Cash card offers fraud alerts, zero liability for unauthorized purchases, and much more.

Chase Freedom Unlimited^®

The Freedom Unlimited card is one of our favorite credit cards for everyday purchases. Why? Because you can earn a minimum of 1.5% cash-back on all purchases, regardless of the bonus category.

You can also convert your rewards to Ultimate Rewards points, which is one of the most valuable currencies in the world.

With the Freedom Unlimited card, you’ll earn:

• 5% cash-back on travel purchased through the Chase Travel portal
• 3% cash-back at restaurants and on drugstore purchases
• 1.5% cash-back on all other purchases

This credit card offers ancillary benefits like secondary car rental insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty, zero liability protection, fraud protection, and more.

But the most valuable benefit is that with an Ultimate Rewards credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, or Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, you can convert your cash-back to Ultimate Rewards points at a 1%-to-1x ratio.

Why We Like Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

We love Chase Ultimate Rewards points because of how easy they are to earn and how versatile they are.

The best way to redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to transfer them to the Chase airline and hotel partners for business and first class flights and luxury hotels.

You can also redeem your Chase points for cash-back, Amazon purchases, gift cards, merchandise, and travel booked through the Chase travel portal. But the value you’d get with these redemptions is limited compared to the value you’d get with transfer partners.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture card is known for offering excellent, straightforward rewards with the ability to transfer to travel partners, this card is continuing to grow in popularity.

This card offers an unlimited 2x Capital One miles on all non-bonus purchases. You’ll also get an up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

You’ll find great travel insurance benefits like lost luggage coverage, roadside dispatch, and travel assistance services. The card also comes with key credit card benefits like purchase protection, return protection, and no foreign transaction fees (rates & fees).

Why We Like Earning Capital One Miles

We are big fans of Capital One Miles. Although the miles aren’t quite as valuable at 1.8 cents each, they are still very valuable as one of the transferable rewards programs.

You can redeem Capital One miles for statement credits, travel purchases, experiences, gift cards, and more.

But without a doubt, the best way to use Capital One miles is to transfer them to partners for flights like Lufthansa first class. Depending on the partner, you’ll transfer your miles mostly at a 1:1 ratio and sometimes a 2:1.5 or 2:1 ratio.

Hot Tip: The best cards to use at Target may not be the best ones to use at other big-box stores. See our helpful guides on the best credit cards for shopping at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, and home improvement stores.

American Express^® Gold Card

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 90,000 points with the Amex Gold card. The current public offer is 60,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

The Amex Gold card is one of the best cards you can have for daily spending, particularly for dining and supermarkets around the world. However, even though the Amex Gold card offers superb rewards, an awesome welcome bonus, and fantastic benefits overall, Target is specifically excluded as a bonus category, which means you’ll earn 1x Amex Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on Target purchases.

To start off, this card offers an excellent welcome bonus to accelerate the number of points you’ll earn in a flash.

But beyond that, the Amex Gold card earns:

• 4x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at restaurants
• 4x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; after that, earn 1x)
• 3x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline, as well as airfare booked through AmexTravel.com
• 1x Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on all other purchases

Beyond that, the Amex Gold card offers up to $120 in dining statement credits per year (up to $10 per month) at participating restaurants, including GrubHub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and participating Shake Shack locations.

Also, enjoy up to $120 per year in Uber Cash ($10 per month) for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S.

You’ll also get access to premium travel benefits like The Hotel Collection, which is a benefit program offering elevated travel perks when booking a 2-night stay at included properties, like a room upgrade at check-in (if available) and a $100 hotel credit.

Also, the Amex Gold card offers amazing benefits and protections, like the lowest hotel rate guarantee (for rates booked with AmexTravel.com), secondary car rental insurance, access to Amex Offers, a complimentary ShopRunner membership upon enrollment, and even access to the American Express Auto Purchasing Program.

Why We Like Earning Amex Membership Rewards Points

We love earning Amex Membership Rewards points because they’re the most valuable transferable currency out there.

Worth around 2.2 cents each, Amex Membership Rewards points can be used for cash-back, gift cards, travel bookings via AmexTravel.com, charitable donations, merchandise shopping, and more.

But if you look closely, the best way to get phenomenal value with your Amex points is to book luxury flights and hotels using the American Express transfer partners.

Blue Cash Everyday^® Card from American Express

The Amex Blue Cash Everyday card is great for shopping at target.com. While it only earns 1% cash-back when you shop in-store, you’ll earn 3% cash-back at U.S. online retailers, like target.com on up to $6,000 in purchases each year.

Since most of us do a lot of our shopping online these days, this card makes it easy to rack up lots of cash-back rewards. Additionally, the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card also offers these benefits:

• 3% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 in purchases each year)
• 3% cash-back at U.S. gas stations (up to $6,000 in purchases each year)
• 1% on all other purchases
• Get $7 back each month after using your Card to spend $9.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription to The Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Enrollment required.

The 4 Best Business Credit Cards for Shopping at Target

What if you happen to shop at Target or Target.com a lot for your business? You’ll want to make sure you’re separating your business transactions from your personal purchases, so that’s when a business credit card can come in handy.

Let’s talk about our favorite business credit cards for shopping at Target.

Card Summary

Card	Welcome Bonus and Annual Fee	Benefits for Shopping at Target
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express	Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership. Annual fee of $0 (rates & fees)	Earn 2x Membership Rewards points on all purchases (up to $50,000 per calendar year)
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card	Earn $750 cash back after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months. Annual fee of $0	1.5% cash-back on all purchases 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months; variable 18.49% - 24.49% thereafter Purchase protection and extended warranty
The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card	Earn a $250 statement credit after you make $3,000 in purchases on your Card in your first 3 months. Annual fee of $0 (rates & fees)	Earn 2% cash-back on all purchases (up to $50,000 per calendar year) Purchase protection and extended warranty
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card	No welcome offer available. Annual fee of $0 for the first year, $95 thereafter	Earn 2% cash-back in the top 2 categories where you spend the most each month (including discount stores, wholesale clubs, grocery stores, and supermarkets)

The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Our top business credit card choice for shopping at Target is the Amex Blue Business Plus card.

Offering 2x Membership Rewards points on everyday business purchases (up to $50,000 per calendar year), this is the most rewarding business credit card for Target purchases. After that, you’ll earn 1x points.

You will find a 0% introductory APR on purchases (as shown in the table above) that will help your business temporarily avoid interest payments on purchases.

This credit card is one of the only Amex cards that offers access to Membership Rewards with no annual fee. And with no-fee employee cards, and access to Amex Offers, this card is a no-brainer to have (see rates & fees).

Ink Business Unlimited^® Credit Card

The Ink Business Unlimited card is one of our favorite business credit cards because, in addition to the huge welcome bonus, you’ll find top-notch earning potential across all business purchases.

With this card, you will earn 1.5% cash-back on your business purchases with no caps.

This card is one of the few no-annual-fee cards that provide primary rental car insurance! Other benefits include no-fee employee cards, zero liability fraud protection, purchase protection, extended warranty, and more.

1.5% cash-back isn’t necessarily fantastic by itself, but this credit card’s rewards can be converted to Ultimate Rewards points if you have an Ultimate Rewards credit card like the Ink Business Preferred card at a 1%-to-1x ratio.

That means your 1.5% cash-back can be converted to 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points, which is worth a 3% return on spend.

The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card

The Amex Blue Business Cash card is an impressive straightforward business credit card with an emphasis on cash-back rewards. So if you find yourself needing cash-back for your business purchases made at Target, this card is a great fit for you.

There isn’t any need to pay attention to bonus categories because you’ll earn 2% cash-back on all eligible purchases (up to $50,000 per calendar year). After that, you’ll earn 1% cash-back.

One of the biggest benefits of this credit card is that the rewards are totally automated — all cash-back earned is credited onto each statement so that you don’t need to worry about redeeming your cash-back.

U.S. Bank Business Leverage^® Visa Signature^® Card

Our very last credit card is the U.S. Bank Business Leverage card, which comes with the ability to earn 2% cash-back in the top 2 categories where you spend the most each month.

These rewards are automatic, so they’re adjusted based on your spending habits, which can change from month to month.

The bonus earnings are uncapped, and there are a total of 48 categories, including discount stores and wholesale clubs and grocery stores and supermarkets.

Both merchant category codes 5411 and 5310 are covered under the definitions in the bolded categories above, which means that all of your Target purchases should earn 2x points.

Other benefits include no-fee employee cards and no foreign transaction fees.

Final Thoughts

Target is one of those retailers that could be thought of as a wholesale club or a grocery store, depending on how you look at it. But in the eyes of credit card processing companies, they will almost always be categorized under 1 of 2 merchant category codes (which vary by location):

• 5310 — discount stores, wholesale clubs, and warehouses
• 5411 — grocery stores, supermarkets, and bakeries

If your local Target falls under MCC 5411, you can use a card like the Citi Premier card.

However, if your Target falls under MCC 5310, you’ll want to use a solid everyday spending card like the Double Cash card, Freedom Unlimited card, or Capital One Venture card. For any target.com purchases, the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card would be a solid choice.

If you’re strictly looking for discounts at Target and no other benefits, the Target RedCard might work for you.

For business credit cards, we’d recommend the Amex Blue Business Plus card, the Ink Business Unlimited card, the Amex Blue Business Cash card, or the U.S. Bank Business Leverage card.

Whatever the case, there are numerous credit cards that will help you accumulate lots of rewards, whether you’re looking for points or cash-back.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

The information regarding the Target RedCard™, Target RedCard™ Mastercard, and U.S. Bank Business Leverage^® Visa Signature^® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.