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theorist9

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May 28, 2015
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Thinking of placing an order with B&H large enough that the Payboo card's tax-free rebate might make it worth signing up for another credit card. But, just to check, I called the number listed for the bank that issues Payboo (Comenity Capital Bank, 866-292-5123), and couldn't get through to customer service ('we are experiencing high call volumes; we recommend you go online')—never a good sign. That means that, if there's an issue, you'll have a hard time resolving it.

Plus I've read reviews of Comenity's payment system indicating it's not realiable--people sometimes aren't able to pay. But I don't know how common this is.

So: How smoothly does the PayBoo card work? My intention is to buy the items on PayBoo, and then pay back the card immediately. Can you easily go onto their site, give them your bank's ACH routing number, pay, and be done?
 
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KaliYoni

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Feb 19, 2016
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Comenity Bank is a part of a larger company, Bread, that looks like it also runs a "Pay in Four Payments" company and used to operate some loyalty programs. Comenity Bank's own main business appears to be providing private-label credit cards to retailers and to affinity programs. Since CB is a division of a publicly traded company and has the FDIC as one of its regulators, the company itself seems legitimate.

That doesn't say anything about its customer service, security, or privacy practices, though. Have a look at its annual SEC filing and if you hold any of the listed private label cards already, you can use your experience as a guide.

Personally, if I was looking to save sales tax on a single purchase at a retailer I don't regularly use, I probably would see if any of my current credit card issuers offers a card with bonuses and incentives that comes close to the tax savings first. If one does, I would give it a call and ask to get a deal on upgrading my current card (assuming my current card needed to be upgraded).

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Bread's 2021 10-K filing:

(the Business, Business Strategy, Products and Services, and Supervision and Regulation sections may be of particular interest here)

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ETA: this is really bad:

...and this article is a couple years old but it looks like Comenity has a reputation for poor customer service:

"Alliance Data Card Services is the parent company of Comenity Bank, which issues an enormous amount of store credit cards (including many of our picks, such as the Express Next Credit Card, the Pottery Barn Credit Card, and the Williams Sonoma Visa Credit Card). According to a CreditCards.com analysis of the 22,500 complaints filed in 2017, Alliance came in the top spot for the number of complaints relative to the size of its card business."

...finally, Comenity changed its primary regulator from federal to state about a decade ago. That isn't necessarily bad but often is an indicator that a bank wants to reduce the amount and intensity of regulation it faces.
FDIC BankFind

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ETA: It looks like B&H switched Payboo's issuer from Synchrony to Comenity last year and handled the switchover very poorly. So who knows how supportive B&H would be with other Payboo problems:
Reddit: Payboo card thread
 
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theorist9

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Have a look at its annual SEC filing and if you hold any of the listed private label cards already, you can use your experience as a guide.
"...including well-known brands such as Victoria’s Secret, Signet, Ulta, Toyota, Petco and Big Lots..."

Interesting...but nope :).

They mention there's ~600 others, but don't name them. But I can check the issuers of my retailer CC's to see if any of them is Comenity, so good idea!
 

HDFan

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Jun 30, 2007
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Interesting. I'd save 9.125% using their card. Have questions.

1. I always pay the full amount monthly but their finance rate is insane. 29.99%? My card is ~18% and only goes to 29% if I miss a payment.

2. B&H is a stellar company and this is their store card, so that is a positive.

3. Your customer service experience is worrisome.

4. Not sure about the availability of traditional protections available with regular credit cards. What happens if there is a dispute? Had a fraudulent $3k charge on my traditional card on the other side of the country. Had no problems with my bank, just the inconvenience of having to get a new number and change all of those automatic payments. Not sure if this could happen with this card, and if it did what would happen.
 

theorist9

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May 28, 2015
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4. Not sure about the availability of traditional protections available with regular credit cards. What happens if there is a dispute? Had a fraudulent $3k charge on my traditional card on the other side of the country. Had no problems with my bank, just the inconvenience of having to get a new number and change all of those automatic payments. Not sure if this could happen with this card, and if it did what would happen.
I've had two entirely different dispute experiences with incorrect charges. The first was with my regular credit card—from a well-known big bank. They were great. That's probably b/c I was their customer. The second was with a credit card from my local bank, which they didn't issue themselves. Instead, they had one of these companies like Comenity issue it on their behalf. That CC company was absolutely horrible--probably b/c I wasn't their customer, my local bank was their customer. So they were set up to please my local bank rather than me. And my local bank wouldn't do anything—they said "all credit card issues go through the card issuer'. I suppose I could call B&H and ask if they would get involved if there's a problem. Or just forget the whole thing...
 
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