Capital One Walmart Rewards Card Review
The Capital One Walmart Rewards Card offers generous rewards for Walmart shoppers. This is especially true for customers who take advantage of the big retailer’s online, app, and grocery pickup/delivery options.
You’re a good match if you’re a Walmart regular who isn’t stuck on shopping the store in person. The best ongoing rewards this card offers are for purchases made with Walmart via its online store, the app, or its grocery pickup or delivery service. That said, if you’re willing to use Walmart Pay (the chain’s smartphone payment app), you can earn the highest rate of rewards this card offers—5% back—on purchases made in brick-and-mortar Walmart stores for 12 months.
However, you should know before applying that Walmart may automatically consider you for the Walmart Rewards Card, a store credit card, if your credit isn’t good enough to qualify for the Capital One Walmart Rewards Card. This means you could apply for this general rewards card and get stuck with a store credit card with lower rewards value.
Pros
Good rewards earning rate
Flexible rewards program
Cons
Mediocre ongoing rewards in brick-and-mortar stores
Limited new cardholder bonus
Pros Explained
Good rewards earning rates: Though rewards-earning rates vary based on what purchase you’re making with the card, the Capital One Walmart Rewards card offers a competitive rate of return overall than other store-branded credit cards.
Flexible rewards program: This card has multiple redemption options. You can use your rewards to cover purchases made on Walmart’s online store or for statement credits, gift cards, or travel.
Cons Explained
Mediocre ongoing rewards in brick-and-mortar stores: While you can earn 5% back on in-store Walmart purchases for 12 months, this perk only applies if you use Walmart Pay. You’ll only earn 2% back on Walmart in-store purchases after that.
Limited bonus for new cardholders: For the first year, you get a 5% rewards rate on in-store Walmart Pay purchases. Other store-branded cards provide gift card bonuses, a temporary rewards boost on all purchases or various financing options.
Bonus for New Cardholders
For the first 12 months you own the card, anytime you use Walmart Pay in-person at a Walmart store, you'll earn 5% on your purchases. This rate is more than double what you'd normally get by making a purchase at a brick-and-mortar Walmart. There is no cap on rewards in this offer.
To earn the bonus, you'll need to download the Walmart Pay app and connect your Capital One Walmart Rewards Card.
The average household spends $4,464 a year on groceries. So, if you do all your grocery shopping at Walmart and use Walmart Pay every time, you could earn more than $130 from the bonus.
Earning Points & Rewards
Earning rewards is pretty straightforward. You’ll get:
5% back on Walmart.com, purchases made with the Walmart app, and on Walmart grocery pickup and delivery
2% back at Walmart stores, Walmart and Murphy USA fuel stations, restaurants, and on travel purchases
1% back on everything else
Also, you’ll earn 5% back in Walmart brick-and-mortar stores for 12 months when you pay with Walmart Pay.
Your rewards come in the form of points. Each point has a value of 1 cent. So, if you get 5% back on a $100 Walmart.com purchase, you're actually earning 500 points. Five hundred points is worth $5, or 5% of $100.
How many points you earn each year depends on how much you spend in the higher-earning categories and on other purchases. However, it’s easy to imagine how you could maximize this card’s rewards with grocery spending alone.
Based on average household grocery spending, you could earn $223.20 if you purchased all your groceries through Walmart pickup and paid with the Capital One Walmart Rewards Card (5% rewards rate).
Redeeming Rewards
Your points are worth 1 cent each, however you decide to redeem them, according to The Balance’s calculations. You can collect as many as you like and they won’t expire as long as your account is open.
The Capital One Walmart Rewards Card lets you redeem rewards in several ways:
Pay for online purchases made at Walmart.com
Redeem them for previous purchases, statement credits, or gift cards
Redeem them for travel through the Walmart/Capital One travel portal for 1 cent per point
Also, you can pay for purchases online or in the app using a combination of points and money.
You track and manage your rewards balance through your account online or through Capital One’s banking app.
How to Get the Most Out of This Card
Use the Capital One Walmart Rewards Card for all your Walmart purchases, including grocery pickup and delivery. Also, download the Walmart Pay app and load your Capital One Rewards Card on it so you can earn 5% back on in-store purchases for the first 12 months.
Customer Experience
J.D. Power gave Capital One the third spot in its 2019 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, which considered the user experience of more than 28,000 credit card customers nationwide. This study asked cardholders about factors like benefits and services, rewards, credit card terms, and communication.
Capital One also offers a highly-rated mobile app. It scored third in J.D. Power’s U.S. Credit Card Mobile App Satisfaction Study, only behind Discover and American Express. You can pay your bill, view your balance, track your rewards, and more through the app. You may also want to download the Walmart app since this card gives you 5% back on in-app purchases.
Security Features
The Capital One Walmart Rewards Card comes with industry-standard security features including: zero liability, security alerts and a card lock feature you can use to temporarily lock your card if you lose it.
Capital One Walmart Rewards Card Fees to Watch Out For
The Capital One Walmart Rewards Card is fairly light on fees. You can even use this card for international purchases without paying foreign transaction fees.
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