10. Credit Card Receivables

        Credit card receivables are recorded net of an allowance for doubtful accounts and are our only significant class of financing receivables. Substantially all past-due accounts accrue finance charges until they are written off. Accounts are written off when they become 180 days past due.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

        The allowance for doubtful accounts is recognized in an amount equal to the anticipated future write-offs of existing receivables and includes provisions for uncollectible finance charges and other credit-related fees. We estimate future write-offs on the entire credit card portfolio collectively based on historical experience of delinquencies, risk scores, aging trends and industry risk trends.

        Deterioration of the macroeconomic conditions in the United States could adversely affect the risk profile of our credit card receivables portfolio based on credit card holders' ability to pay their balances. If such deterioration were to occur, it could lead to an increase in bad debt expense. We monitor both the credit quality and the delinquency status of the credit card receivables portfolio. We consider accounts 30 or more days past due as delinquent, and we update delinquency status daily. We also monitor risk in the portfolio by assigning internally generated scores to each account and by obtaining current FICO scores, a nationally recognized credit scoring model, for a statistically representative sample of accounts each month. The credit-quality segmentation presented below is consistent with the approach used in determining our allowance for doubtful accounts.

        Under certain circumstances, we offer cardholder payment plans that meet the accounting definition of a troubled debt restructuring (TDR). These plans modify finance charges, minimum payments and/or extend payment terms. Modified terms do not change the balance of the loan. These concessions are made on an individual cardholder basis for economic or legal reasons specific to each individual cardholder's circumstances. Cardholders are not allowed additional charges while participating in a payment plan. As of January 28, 2012, and January 29, 2011, there were 118 thousand and 151 thousand modified contracts with outstanding receivables of $276 million and $400 million, respectively.

        Receivables in cardholder payment plans that meet the definition of a TDR are treated consistently with other receivables in determining our allowance for doubtful accounts. Accounts that complete their assigned payment plan are no longer considered TDRs. Payments received on troubled debt restructurings are first applied to finance charges and fees, then to the unpaid principal balance.

Funding for Credit Card Receivables

        As a method of providing funding for our credit card receivables, we sell, on an ongoing basis, all of our consumer credit card receivables to Target Receivables LLC (TR LLC), formerly known as Target Receivables Corporation (TRC), a wholly owned, bankruptcy remote subsidiary. TR LLC then transfers the receivables to the Target Credit Card Master Trust (the Trust), which from time to time will sell debt securities to third parties, either directly or through a related trust. These debt securities represent undivided interests in the Trust assets. TR LLC uses the proceeds from the sale of debt securities and its share of collections on the receivables to pay the purchase price of the receivables to the Corporation.

        We consolidate the receivables within the Trust and any debt securities issued by the Trust, or a related trust, in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. The receivables transferred to the Trust are not available to general creditors of the Corporation.

        During 2006 and 2007, we sold an interest in our credit card receivables by issuing a Variable Funding Certificate. Parties who hold the Variable Funding Certificate receive interest at a variable short-term market rate. The Variable Funding Certificate matures in 2012 and 2013.

        In the second quarter of 2008, we sold a 47 percent interest in our credit card receivables to JPMorgan Chase (JPMC). Under the terms of this arrangement, TR LLC repaid JPMC $226 million and $566 million during 2011 and 2010, respectively. In addition, we repaid the remaining principal balance on the note payable to JPMC in January 2012, including a make-whole premium, for $2,854 million, resulting in an $87 million loss on early retirement of debt, which was recorded within interest expense and excluded from segment profit.

        All interests in our Credit Card Receivables issued by the Trust are accounted for as secured borrowings. Interest and principal payments are satisfied provided the cash flows from the Trust assets are sufficient and are nonrecourse to the general assets of the Corporation. If the cash flows are less than the periodic interest, the available amount, if any, is paid with respect to interest. Interest shortfalls will be paid to the extent subsequent cash flows from the assets in the Trust are sufficient. Future principal payments will be made from the third party's pro rata share of cash flows from the Trust assets.