One application, two possibilities. There are two Academy credit cards, but you can’t apply for them separately. Your application will first be considered for the Academy Sports + Outdoors Visa Signature Credit Card. And if you don’t qualify, you’ll be subsequently considered for the Academy Sports + Outdoors Visa Credit Card. You generally need at least good credit to get approved for the Visa Signature version, while the Visa could be attainable with fair credit. It doesn’t really matter which Academy credit card you get, though, as their rewards, rates and fees are exactly the same. The only real difference comes from the Visa benefits you’ll receive, which you can learn more about here. Nevertheless, you can check your credit score for free on WalletHub to see which offer you’re most likely to get approved for.

Tiny initial bonuses. The Academy Sports credit cards, as they’re often called, give you $15 off your first Academy purchase of at least $15 (before tax), plus 1,000 bonus points. That amounts to a total of $25, considering Academy points are worth a penny apiece. Unfortunately, $25 represents just 6% (or less) of what the best credit card deals will give you up front. So while this part of the offer is fine if you’re already planning to shop at Academy, it’s not especially attractive overall.

Good for Academy purchases, but that’s it. The Academy credit cards are best when you stay in-house, so to speak. You’ll earn 5 points per $1 spent on Academy purchases, plus 2 points per $1 for the first $150 that you spend on gas each month and 1 point per $1 spent on everything else. Given that 2,500 points gets you $25 in store credit, those earning rates equate to 5%, 2% and 1% back. For context, the average cash rewards card offers 1.06% back on all purchases, and the best gas rewards cards give you 5% back at any station. The best approach is therefore to use your Academy card just for Academy purchases, not all of your everyday spending.

Unimpressive interest rates. An Academy Visa is far from the ideal tool for saving money on interest, whether you’re trying to transfer a balance or planning to make a big-ticket purchase. Academy cards do not offer 0% intro rates on purchases or balance transfers. The low end of the APR range is below the market average for excellent-credit credit cards (14.41%), according to WalletHub research, but the high end of the Academy cards’ regular-APR range is well above the 20.31% average charged by good-credit credit cards.

No annual fee is to be expected. Retailer-affiliated credit cards don’t tend to charge annual fees, so while preferable to having to pay, this Academy credit card feature is nothing special.