TLDR; It is a garbage Wells Fargo line of credit that exploits customers with bad terms, fees, and usurious interest rates. I'm paying mine off and closing it now that I have seen the first statement.

Edited to add: I never carry balances on credit cards so let's stop assuming that I'm unwisely buying something I can't afford and don't need.

What should you use instead?

• At a minimum, use a good credit card that offers chargeback as a protection.

• Use a credit card that offers extended warranties and purchase protections. This benefit has become less common but remains available. I have made a few claims on this and they're amazingly straightforward considering it is an insurance claim.

• Need zero interest or are carrying a balance? Use a card with a reasonable interest rate and the perks above.

• Paying it off? Use a card that offers cash back or points.

Why the Microcenter card sucks.

I saved 5% on a laptop purchase. I could have gotten a no-interest loan. It is not worth it. Here are their credit card terms:

• 29% APR interest if you don't pay it off. If you make minimum payments you will pay 46% in interest over the life of the loan. Nobody should carry a balance here and when they don't...

• No ability to do chargebacks if you pay it off with anti-consumer policies.

  • Paraphrasing: "You may have the right to not pay the remaining amount due if (1) the purchase is within 100mi of your home address and (2) you used the card for the purchase, and (3) you must not yet have fully paid for the purchase.

  • Must make claim in writing. Given today's technology, their requirement to make the claim in writing is anti-consumer. That 100mi radius requirement? Everybody knows the internet is a thing. Not all Microcenter customers live within 100mi of a retail location. Does this exclude Microcenter online purchases?

• No credit card perks including extended warranty. That $50 you save per $1,000 is eroded/eliminated if you purchase any other protection plan including the one Microcenter pushes on you.

• "No Interest" has a nasty snag. They start accruing 29% interest from the start and charge it all to you if you don't pay it off within the promotional period or if you miss a payment. Payments must be snail mail if you wisely do not give them your bank account information.

• Horrible Bank and Terms

  • It is Wells Fargo. They exploit their customers with fees, usurious interest rates, anti-consumer practices and outright fraud. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/10/business/wells-fargo-bank-customers-scandal is just one of many. There is NO way I'm going to put my personal banking information into this anti-consumer bank's systems and authorize them to take what they want.

  • $40 late fee, unable to use electronic bill pay. My bank's online payment could not send my payment electronically despite having several entries for Wells Fargo. I tried them all. Wells Fargo unfairly allows themselves electronic check processing when they are paid by physical check. That snail mail delay is another possibility for your payment to not be credited in time.

Want to make a big purchase, wondering if I can apply for a Microcenter credit card (get it approved) and use it the same day in-store pick up.