Store cards are issued by retailers and operated on their behalf by finance companies. They are similar to credit cards in that you can use them to buy goods and services and you can choose to pay off the whole balance every month or a smaller amount.

Some retailers will also offer you interest free credit on goods as long as you clear your balance within a certain period of time. You have to be careful with these deals because if you fail to pay on time you could find interest backdated to the date you made the purchase in the first place.

Store cards generally have a higher interest rate than credit cards but may be useful if they offer discounts for goods purchased at certain times of the year as long as you pay your balance in full at the end of the month.