Sephora Visa Credit Card Review and Benefits

At a glance, the Sephora Visa Credit Card is for beauty lovers. It earns 4% on Sephora purchases, a return that other credit cards cannot match. The rewards program is not easy to use and can generate no tangible rewards. 

You should consider this card only if you live in the US and spent thousands of dollars in Sephora stores or online.

Let`s look at it in-depth.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Sephora Visa Credit Card Review
2. Sephora Visa Credit Card Rates and Fees
3. Sephora Visa Credit Card Benefits
4. What are Sephora Credit Card Rewards?
5. How to Redeem Sephora Rewards?
6. What could be improved in Sephora Visa Credit Card?
7. Is Sephora Visa Credit Card Right for You?

Sephora Visa Credit Card Review

Sephora Visa is a co-branded credit card issued by Comenity Bank, one of the largest store credit card issuers. This card offers beauty shoppers many cash voucher rewards separately from Sephora’s Beauty Insider program. 

It offers a good return on your purchases in their stores (4%), but it has very few perks.

Although there is no annual fee, the reward redemption rules can be confusing and contain so many restrictions that casual shoppers will have difficulty interpreting any rewards and justifying owning them.

To qualify for the Sephora Visa Credit Card, applicants must have a credit score of at least Fair. Applicants who are not eligible for the Visa version will be automatically considered for the Sephora store credit cards.

This credit is suitable for: Regular Sephora shoppers who shop online and at designated Sephora stores.

SEPHORA VISA CREDIT CARD REVIEW AND BENEFITS
PURCHASES	N/A
BALANCE TRANSFERS	N/A
REGULAR APR	16.99% – 25.74%, variable
ANNUAL FEE	$0
FIRST CARD PURCHASE AT SEPHORA	15% off
FIRST $500 SPENT OUTSIDE SEPHORA WITHIN THE FIRST 90 DAYS	$20 Sephora Credit Card Reward
PER $1 SPENT AT SEPHORA	Earn 2 Beauty Insider Points
REWARDS INSIDE SEPHORA	4% cash back
REWARDS OUTSIDE SEPHORA	1% cash back

Sephora Visa Credit Card Rates and Fees

While your Sephora credit card will not have an annual fee, there will be fees for other credit card services, like:

• The balance transfer APR for balance transfers will be 26.99%. It will fluctuate with the prime rate. The transaction fee is $10 or 5% of your transfer amount, depending on which is higher.
• The APR on cash advances will be 26.74%. This rate will fluctuate with the prime rate. The transaction fee is $10 or 3% of your advance.
• For foreign transactions, a USD transaction incurs a 3% fee.
• Late payment and return payments are subject to a $40 fee.
• The regular purchase APR for your regular purchases will be between 16.99% to 25.74%. This will depend on your credit history and the current prime rate. You can still avoid your APR if you pay fully and on time.

Sephora Visa Credit Card Benefits

Sephora Visa Credit Card has a variety of brand-centric perks.

Credit Card Reward Certificate

Sephora Visa Credit Card does not earn the cashback rewards. Instead, you will receive your rewards and redeem them as a Credit Card Reward Certificate. These can be used at Sephora stores or online. Credit card reward certificates are available in increments of $5 and expire after thirty days.

Those certificate rewards are divided into two categories:

Earn 4% Back on Sephora Purchase

Sephora Visa Credit Card’s most distinctive feature is its purchase reward. Sephora purchases earn you 4% back ($5 in rewards for

every $125 spent). This applies to all Sephora purchases, online and in U.S. Sephora exclusive stores.

Earn 1% Back outside Sephora 

Purchases made at third-party locations such as a Kohl’s Sephora Pop-up Store are not eligible for the purchase bonus. Purchases that aren’t in the bonus category will be credited with a 1%.

Get 15% off your first Sephora card purchase

The Sephora Visa Credit Card also offers a First Purchase Discount. New Cardholders can receive 15% off their first Sephora Visa credit card purchase in person or online.

The First Purchase Discount is only available once. It cannot be applied to previous purchases. The Sephora Visa Credit Card approval date for the First Purchase Discount is 30 days.

No annual fee

The Sephora Visa Credit Card offers no annual fees ($0) in addition to the rewards. 

Although this is common for retail credit cards, it’s nice to see that the Sephora Visa Credit Card does not have enough perks to warrant a fee. You don’t have to shop at Sephora for more than a few months. You don’t have to pay extra fees for your rewards.

2X Beauty Insider Points

With Sephora Visa Credit Card, you can get 2X Beauty Insider points for every $1 spent at Sephora.

To redeem $10 in Beauty Cash, you just have to collect 500 Beauty Insider Points.

This benefit is valid only for purchases made at U.S. Sephora exclusive stores or online. 

Note that only Sephora Visa Credit Card Holders are eligible for this offer.

What are Sephora Credit Card Rewards?

Sephora Credit Card Rewards is a coupon for online and in-store purchases. These are the currency of the card’s reward program and act as store credit. These reward dollars can be applied at checkout to lower your total purchase price.

25 Reward Dollars (points) are required to earn $1 dollar. 

How to Redeem Sephora Rewards?

Sephora Visa Rewards only offers one redemption option. You can use your earnings only as reward dollars (Credit Card Rewards). A minimum reward of $5 is required before a voucher may be issued. This means that you will need 125 points (reward dollars) before redeeming your rewards.

Reward Dollar amounts between $5 and 125 RDs are automatically generated as vouchers. Points earned until you have enough to redeem another voucher will be kept in your account.

Credit card rewards expire 90 days after they are earned. These rewards are automatically generated, so you must be very careful with your account. 

No matter how Beauty Insider a cardholder is or what their annual spending, earnings expire.

What could be improved in Sephora Visa Credit Card?

Skimpy Sign-up bonus 

As the name suggests, the Sephora card is a Visa card, which means you can use it anywhere. The card offers a specific sign-up bonus to encourage you to do that.

The Sephora Visa Credit Card offers two rather insignificant signup bonuses to new cardholders.

The first one is a one-time coupon for 15% off your first order after opening an account. It expires after 30 calendar days. This discount will automatically be applied, so planning ahead for your next makeup purchase is a good idea.

This “perk” is disappointing because Sephora VIB members (those who spend over $350 per year at Sephora) will frequently receive 15% coupons for Sephora seasonal sales. This makes the first-time bonus average among those in the higher tiers within the Sephora loyalty program. Sephora offers 10% coupons to members at the lowest tier (Sephora Insider) – this is still a slight improvement.

A second signup bonus is available for those who meet a minimum purchase on other-Sephora products. After spending $500 at Sephora in the first 90 days, the card will offer $20 in Sephora Credit Card Reward. This is a simple requirement, but it is not enough to justify the card’s purchase. This card offers a greater return than spending $500 on a generic flat-rate, 2% cashback card.

It is not a sign-up bonus of any significant value at $20. Even with the 15% discount on your first purchase, it is unlikely that you will receive a welcome bonus totaling more than $50. 

Many quality rewards credit cards will offer a sign-up bonus that is triple or more.

Restrictive rewards 

While a 4% reward rate may seem appealing at first, it is not enough to make Sephora work for you. To get a Credit Card Reward Certificate, you must earn $5 in rewards. This is $125 in Sephora shopping, or more if your Sephora purchases are outside Sephora.

It doesn’t take long to spend $125 if you are a regular customer. But you will have to do this in a 90 days time cap to have the chance to redeem your bonus. 

You’ll lose your rewards if you don’t spend enough to redeem them before they expire. Credit Card Reward Certificates have a 30-day time limit, so make sure you pay them quickly.

As you can see, if you do not regularly shop from Sephora, those rewards are not so appealing. 

Some cardholders may find it difficult to earn these rewards due to the restrictions on how they can be earned. The 4% reward is only available if you shop at the Sephora website or a Sephora store. 

You can’t get the 1% reward base rate if you prefer to purchase your Sephora supplies from a third-party store.

You can view all this information at sephora.com.

Is Sephora Visa Credit Card Right for You?

The Sephora Visa Credit Cards benefits can lower the price of your Sephora purchase. But those benefits are not counted when you shop at Sephora stands in other stores. Instead, they go in the “all other purchase” category, contributing little to your cashback earnings. The card is more appealing because there are no annual fees.

You are the ideal Sephora Visa Credit Card holder if:

There’s a Standalone Sephora Branch in Your Area

You can also shop at Sephora’s website to earn the best rewards. You’ll earn only 1% if you shop at Sephora stand in another store. 

You’re probably not the best user if there isn’t a Sephora branch nearby.

No annual fee

Annual fees are a common feature of rewards-rich cards that reduce your earnings. These fees do not apply to the Sephora Visa Credit Card. A Sephora Visa Credit Card is a good choice if you don’t want to pay any extra fees.

Everyday Rewards Credit Card Options

You won’t be disappointed with the 1% reward rate for purchases made by your Sephora credit card in other stores. With the everyday rewards credit card in your wallet, you’ll probably save even more money. 

The ideal Sephora credit card user has strong everyday rewards credit cards. This is an excellent option if you are looking for maximum earnings. You can use your everyday credit card anywhere else, but your Sephora visa credit card is for Sephora stores.

Sephora Rouge Member

Rouge is the highest level of the Sephora Beauty Insider Club. Rouge members must spend $1,000 annually at Sephora to be eligible. You’d get $40 back if you spent this $1,000 on a Sephora Visit Credit Card. This is a lot of cash to get a reward program. Rouge members are great candidates for Sephora cards.

People Also Ask

What is the difference between the Sephora Credit Card and the Sephora Visa Credit Cards?

You can use Sephora Credit Card only at Sephora stores and online for your purchases. After approval, you’ll earn 4% in rewards for every $1 you spend at Sephora U.S stores (excluding Canada or Sephora departments within other retailers’ stores).

You can use Sephora Visa Credit Card to purchase anywhere Visa is accepted. After approval, you’ll earn 4% on every $1 you spend in Sephora U.S stores and 1% in rewards for every other transaction with the Visa.

The Sephora Visa Signature Credit Card has the same features as the Sephora Visa Credit Card but includes additional Visa Signature benefits such as Visa Concierge, Visa Signature travel, and Roadside Dispatch.

Can I use my Sephora credit card at JCPenney?

You can use Sephora Visa Card at JCPenny because it is a Visa card, and they are accepted everywhere around the world.

Are there other Sephora credit cards?

There are three Sephora Cards:

1. Sephora Credit Card
2. Sephora Visa Credit Card
3. Sephora Visa Signature Credit Card (cards up to $5,000 credit limit)

Sephora Credit Card is a closed-loop store credit card. This card is only available at Sephora and has a higher interest rate than the Visa credit cards.

Visa Signature will be given to applicants for the Sephora Visa Credit Card if they are approved for a credit limit of more than $5,000

Can I use my Sephora Visa credit card anywhere?

You can use the Sephora Visa credit card because it is a Visa card that is accepted everywhere.