Kohl's Card

Rewards by category

Our take

The Kohl's Card makes sense for one kind of shopper: someone who is already at Kohl's several times a year. It earns 7.5% in Kohl's Rewards on every Kohl's purchase, carries no annual fee, and new cardholders get 40% off one first purchase. Spend $600 a year there and Most Valued Customer perks kick in on top.

The catch is how you get paid. Rewards arrive monthly as Kohl's Cash, issued in $5 increments around the 1st of the following month, and each coupon expires 30 days after issuance — miss the window and the value is gone. Qualifying purchases are also calculated after coupons and discounts, gift cards don't earn, and Kohl's Cash can't be spent on Sephora at Kohl's or gift cards.

Treat it as a single-store specialist. The card can only be used at Kohl's, so it needs a general-purpose partner covering the rest of your spending. Note too that SwipeCaddy's rankings value Kohl's Rewards conservatively at 0.8 cents each, so the headline 7.5% behaves closer to 6% back. If your Kohl's trips are rare enough that coupons would lapse, skip it.

Store bonuses

• Kohl's7.5x

Key benefits

• 7.5% in Kohl's Rewards on every Kohl's purchase
• 40% off one first purchase as a new cardholder
• Exclusive cardholder savings offers throughout the year
• Most Valued Customer perks after $600/year at Kohl's

Common questions

Does Kohl's Card have an annual fee?

No — Kohl's Card has no annual fee.

What rewards does Kohl's Card earn on everything else?

0x on all other purchases, in Kohl's Rewards.

When does Kohl's Cash earned with the Kohl's Card expire?

Rewards convert to Kohl's Cash in $5 increments around the 1st of the month after you earn them, and each coupon expires 30 days after it is issued. It also can't be used on Sephora at Kohl's or on gift cards. Plan a return trip inside that 30-day window or the rewards evaporate.

Can I use the Kohl's Card anywhere besides Kohl's?

No. It's a store card, so it only works at Kohl's — there's no earning, and no swiping, anywhere else. Keep a general-purpose card for the rest of your spending and pull this one out at the Kohl's register, where the 7.5% rate and cardholder-only savings offers do their work.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.