Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Capital One and Walmart are teaming up on a new Capital One Walmart Rewards Credit Program. The rollout of this new program will include two new credit cards: the co-branded Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard and the private-label Walmart Rewards Card. Both cards will be available for applications starting Sept. 24, 2019.
With the co-branded Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®, you'll earn unlimited 5x points on Walmart.com purchases (including grocery pickup and delivery), 2x on restaurants and travel and 1x on all other purchases. As part of an introductory offer, you'll also earn 5x on in-store purchases made with Walmart Pay for the first 12 months. According to a Capital One representative, "travel" will be broadly defined to include airlines, hotels, car rentals, rideshare services, taxis, rail and bus rides and more.
The information for the Capital One Walmart Rewards card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The private-label Walmart Rewards Card offers unlimited 5x points on Walmart.com and Walmart in-app purchases, and 2x on purchases made in-store and at Walmart gas stations (including Murphy's USA locations). Cardholders will also earn an introductory 5x on in-store purchases made with Walmart Pay during the first 12 months. Both cards come with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.
Capital One and Walmart are really targeting mobile app users and online shoppers with these bonus categories. Unfortunately, frequent in-store shoppers will only earn the best value from the cobranded card in the first year. However, the 5x on Walmart.com does include pick-up and delivery services. If you've been dying to try out online ordering with pick-up or delivery, now's a great time to give it a test run. The card has no annual fee, so it won't cost you anything in the long run if you end up switching to another card for your Walmart spending in the future.
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The major differentiator of this card — in my opinion — is the redemption flexibility. You'll be able to redeem points for much more than just Walmart purchases. You can also redeem for travel through Capital One's travel portal, use points as a statement credit, redeem for gift cards and more. Capital One stated that to begin with, points will be worth a flat 1 cent each across all redemption options. So if you're spending $500 a month at Walmart, that alone is $300 in rewards in one year to spend however you want.
Analysis
For anyone who shops at Walmart for groceries and other necessities, this isn't a bad card to have in your purse or wallet — especially if you like to take advantage of the grocery pick-up and delivery options. Unlimited 5% rewards on basically all Walmart purchases throughout your first year can easily add up to a sizeable redemption, and unlimited earning on credit cards for groceries is hard to come by. Other cards designed for grocery purchases (at U.S. supermarkets for the Amex cards) — including the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express and even the American Express® Gold Card — have spending caps for how much you can earn on certain bonus categories throughout the year. Plus, figuring out which cards actually count Walmart in their supermarket/grocery store bonus category can get sticky because of merchant codes.
The fact that Capital One is opening its travel portal up to cardholders as well is a nice addition. While there are certainly other cards out there that are better suited for larger travel purchases and dining (hello, Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve), not everyone wants to juggle five different credit cards with five different rewards structures and due dates. That makes these new Walmart cards an option to consider for families, college students and newbies to the points and miles game who want a simple rewards card that earns bonus points across a range of spending categories. Advanced points and miles gurus might not be interested in this card, but that's okay. It's not built for that audience.
Current Walmart credit cardholders will automatically have cards converted to this new program on Oct. 11, 2019, and will receive cards in the mail later this year and into early 2020. Current cardholders will also be able to take advantage of the introductory 5x on in-store purchases made with Walmart Pay through Oct. 14, 2020.
Bottom line
I was pleasantly surprised with the announced card details for the cobranded Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard and private-label Walmart Rewards Card. Cobranded retail credit cards can often offer weak rewards, but you'll get a nice return on Walmart.com purchases with these cards, and the addition of other bonus categories and flexible redemption options puts this card ahead of other cobranded retail credit cards like the Costco Anywhere Visa and even the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card in my book. If you're looking for a top-tier travel card, this is obviously not the card for you. However, families, students and really anyone who's looking for an all-around credit card for everyday grocery, restaurant and travel spending may find value with this new Walmart card.
Applications will become available starting Sept. 24, 2019. I also confirmed with a Capital One representative that this card will not be held to the Capital One rule where you can only have two consumer cards at any given time. That means this card is still fair game for applications, even if you already have two consumer Capital One cards like the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
