Catalog Credit Cards: REI, L.L.Bean, Eddie Bauer, Lands' End and More
Catalog Credit Cards: REI, L.L.Bean, Eddie Bauer, Lands' End and More
Several of the best-known catalog retailers put their name on a credit card. The pitch is always the same — a higher reward rate at the brand, a lower one everywhere else — and the right card can lift the return on every order from a brand you buy from often. The wrong one adds a high-interest account and a rewards currency you can only spend in one store. This site compares those cards from the terms their issuers and brands publish, and this page explains which cards it covers and how it judges them.
How It Works
A co-branded card is issued by a bank under a retailer's name. The bank sets the interest rate and fees; the retailer usually supplies the rewards, which are often paid in a store currency rather than cash. That split is why two numbers matter on every card: the rate you earn at the brand, and the rate you earn everywhere else — because a card that pays well at one store and poorly elsewhere only makes sense if you keep a better general card for everything else.
The four cards this site was built around, as their issuers and brands describe them when checked in October 2026:
REI Co-op Mastercard. Issued by Capital One, with no annual fee. REI's card page lists 5% in rewards on REI Co-op purchases and 1.5% on all other purchases. It is separate from REI's co-op membership, a one-time $30 purchase that returns an annual 10% back on eligible purchases — a member who holds the card earns both. Our full review: REI Co-op Mastercard — is it worth it?
L.L.Bean Mastercard. Issued by Citibank. L.L.Bean's card page lists Bean Bucks at 5% on purchases at L.L.Bean's U.S. businesses, 2% at restaurants and 1% on everything else, and Bean Bucks can only be used toward L.L.Bean merchandise and services — they are not a statement credit. Compared in detail: L.L.Bean Mastercard vs Lands' End Visa
Eddie Bauer credit card. Issued by Comenity Bank, whose published rate sheet lists a purchase APR of 32.24%. Eddie Bauer's own credit-card benefits page now redirects to its home page, so the card's current rewards can only be confirmed with the issuer; the brand's Adventure Rewards program, which the card has been tied to, is still promoted on eddiebauer.com. Our review: Eddie Bauer credit card
Lands' End Visa and Lands' End credit card. Issued by Comenity Capital Bank, whose cardholder agreement sets a purchase APR of 28.24% or 34.24% depending on creditworthiness. As with Eddie Bauer, check the current rewards terms with the issuer before applying.
Beyond those four, the site covers the store cards catalog and home shoppers ask about most — among them the Williams Sonoma Key Rewards Visa, the Crate and Barrel card, the Kohl's card and Rewards Visa, the Bass Pro Shops CLUB Mastercard and the RH Members card.
How We Evaluate a Card
Every review on this site answers the same five questions from the issuer's and the brand's own pages, not from card-review sites that are paid when readers apply:
- Earn at the brand. The rate the card pays on the brand's own purchases, and what form it takes — cash back, points, or a store currency.
- Earn everywhere else. The rate on ordinary purchases. A co-branded card that pays 1% outside its store is a companion card, not a primary one.
- Annual fee. The REI card charges none; where a card does charge one, we compare it with what a typical shopper would earn.
- Interest rate. Store cards often carry purchase APRs near or above 30% — the Eddie Bauer and Lands' End rate sheets above are examples. Carrying a balance at those rates erases any reward in a month or two, so we treat these cards as worth holding only for shoppers who pay in full.
- Where the rewards can be spent. A 5% reward in a store-only currency is worth less than 5% in cash to anyone who does not shop that store regularly.
The verdict on each card is one of three: worth carrying as a primary card, worth carrying as a companion for one brand, or not worth the account. Most catalog cards land in the middle — good at their own brand, ordinary or weak everywhere else.
Store Card or Network Card
One distinction catches applicants out. Some catalog brands offer two versions of their card under one application: a card on the Visa or Mastercard network that works anywhere, and a store-only card that works only at the brand. Comenity's Lands' End agreement, for example, covers both a "Lands' End Visa Credit Card" and a "Lands' End Credit Card," and the bank decides which one an applicant receives. A store-only card earns nothing outside the brand, so its value rests entirely on what you buy there; if you were hoping for an everyday card, check which version you were approved for before you start using it. The interest rate and the rewards currency matter far more than the logo on the front.
What You Can Earn
On the four cards above, the brand rate runs to 5% where the issuer publishes one, and the everyday rate from 1% (L.L.Bean) to 1.5% (REI). For comparison, a flat-rate general card typically pays a similar or higher rate everywhere, so the case for a catalog card rests almost entirely on how much you spend at that one brand. A household that spends $1,000 a year at L.L.Bean earns $50 in Bean Bucks with its card; the same spend on a 2% general card earns $20 in cash. Whether the $30 difference is worth another account — and a currency that only works at L.L.Bean — is the decision every review on this site is built to answer.
How to Use These Cards Well
Three habits make a co-branded card pay rather than cost. Pay the balance in full every month, because the purchase APRs on these cards are high enough to wipe out a year of rewards quickly. Use the card only at its own brand, and keep a better general card for everything else. And redeem the store currency before it expires — Bean Bucks, for example, can only be spent on L.L.Bean merchandise, so a reward left unspent is a reward lost. Where a brand also runs a free loyalty program, check whether the card replaces it or stacks on top; L.L.Bean's terms, for instance, say that approval for the Mastercard ends a member's L.L.Bean Rewards account and converts its points into Bean Bucks.
Bottom Line
Catalog credit cards reward loyalty to one brand, and they are worth carrying only for shoppers who are loyal enough to use the store currency and disciplined enough never to carry a balance. This site compares them on five questions — brand earn, everyday earn, fee, interest rate and where the rewards can be spent — using the issuers' and brands' own terms. Start with the review of the brand you buy from most.
Related: CatalogPerks.com covers portal and rewards stacking for catalog shoppers. CatalogPoints.com covers loyalty points. CatalogDB.com is a searchable directory of mail-order catalog brands.