The company, which has gone back and forth on selling its credit card receivables in recent years, has decided to do just that. According to the Star Tribune, Target has hired First Annapolis to help it find a buyer for its $6.7 billion in receivables.
Target sold 47 percent of its card business, then valued at $8.1 billion, to JP Morgan Chase in 2008. At the time, CFO Doug Scovanner, equated it with the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing."
Target intends to maintain operational control of its REDcard business. In October, the company introduced an automatic five percent discount on all purchases made in its stores and on Target.com for consumers using the card. The retailer has said it expects the card to add one to two percent to same-store sales.
Jeff Klinefelter of Piper Jaffrey told the Star Tribune, "Now's a good time to go ahead and do it (sell receivables) and become entirely focused on retail."