Walmart offers a credit card that it hopes offers enough rewards to keep you loyal to both the card and Walmart itself. But how do its perks stack up to the competition? Does it deserve a place in your wallet? We investigate.
Rewards
Walmart’s Mastercard credit card (which is issued by Capital One) offers cash back on Walmart purchases and possibly other purchases as well.
Here’s what you get in rewards:
- 5% back on purchases on Walmart.com (includes grocery pickup purchases ordered online or through Walmart mobile app)
- 2% in Walmart stores & fuel stations, at restaurants and on travel
- 1% back on all other card purchases
Plus, a First Year Bonus: Earn 5% cash back in Walmart stores for the first 12 months when you use this card with Walmart Pay.
(If you don’t know how Walmart Pay works, it is a mobile “wallet” that allows you to pay for your purchases at the register with your cell phone. However, you still need to set up a card as the funding source within the Walmart Pay wallet. If you set up Walmart Pay with your Walmart credit card as that funding source, that is when you’d get the 5% cash back inside Walmart stores when you pay with Walmart Pay.)
Walmart Mastercard vs. Walmart Store Card
When you apply for the Walmart credit card, if your history is good enough, you will be approved for the Walmart Mastercard. If your credit history is not good enough to qualify for the Mastercard, you will then be considered for the Walmart store card.
What’s the difference? The Walmart Mastercard is accepted anywhere Mastercard is accepted, so you are not restricted to using it at Walmart stores. The Walmart store card is only good at Walmart, so it has more limited usefulness. In addition, the store-only card does not earn rewards outside of Walmart (because it is not accepted outside of Walmart).
Annual Fee?
There is no annual fee for either the Walmart Mastercard or Walmart store card.
Approval Chances
If you don’t have significant credit problems, you may very well be approved for this card. You can use the Walmart credit card pre-approval tool to get a feel for your approval chances.
How It Compares
Looking at the Walmart credit card’s rewards, the only feature that stands out is the 5% rebate on Walmart.com purchases. Regular Walmart online shoppers will appreciate this, but maybe not those who only shop in store. (The 5% in stores via Walmart Pay is nice, but only lasts one year.)
The cash back on other purchases is fairly modest when compared with the best cash back credit cards, but if your credit score isn’t high enough to qualify for those cards, this one is not a bad place to start.
The Verdict
It’s… OK. The best feature is the 5% rebate on Walmart.com purchases, but that seems to actually be pushing you to buy online or via the Walmart app instead of at your local Walmart store. That may be good for Walmart in its online battles with Amazon.com, but it stiffs the loyal Walmart store shopper by giving a smaller rebate for shopping in store. It’s not the worst credit card, but it’s far from the best credit card.
Author: Adam Jusko