Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard® review: Great rewards for customers of one of the largest retail chains | Bankrate (2024)

Written by

Edited by

Bankrate rating

For fans of online shopping and Walmart stores, the no-annual-fee Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* could be one of the best credit cards for groceries, everyday products, electronics and home furnishings.

You’ll earn an impressive 5 percent cash back on Walmart.com purchases, including grocery pickup and delivery orders. The card also earns 2 percent cash back for in-store Walmart purchases, restaurants and travel, and 1 percent on all other purchases. Since this is an instant-use credit card, you can start earning rewards with the big-box retailer within minutes of approval.

As long as you take advantage of the card’s high-earning potential and pay your balances in full and on time, the Walmart Rewards Mastercard is a solid pick. But if you prefer to shop elsewhere, a flexible rewards credit card that earns bonus cash back in various categories may provide greater value.

Rewards

• Rewards

  • 5 percent cash back at Walmart.com, including pickup & delivery
  • 2 percent cash back in Walmart stores & Walmart-branded gas stations, at restaurants and on travel
  • 1 percent cash back on all other purchases

  Expert Appraisal: Typical
  See our expert analysis

• Welcome offer

  • Earn 5 percent cash back in Walmart stores for the first 12 months when you use your Capital One Walmart Rewards Card with Walmart Pay

  Expert Appraisal: Weak
  See our expert analysis

• Rates and fees

  • APR: 19.48 percent to 29.99 percent variable
  • Annual fee: None
  • Balance transfer fee: $0 at the Transfer APR, 3% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer to you
  • Cash advance fee: 3 percent of the amount of the cash advance, but not less than $3
  • Late payment fee: Up to $39

  Expert Appraisal: Weak
  See our expert analysis

• Other cardholder perks

  • This card does not have any additional perks that cardholders can take advantage of

  Expert Appraisal: Weak
  See our expert analysis

The Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard can be a great option for loyal Walmart customers who regularly shop online to take advantage of its boosted rewards rate. This card also has a solid flat rate for in-store Walmart purchases and big-budget staples like gas (at Walmart fuel stations), restaurants and travel.

Rewards: Great for Walmart.com regulars

If you make most of your purchases online at Walmart and only want one rewards card, you’re the perfect candidate for this card, which earns one of the best available rates for online Walmart purchases. Combining boosted rewards for store loyalty and a solid flat rate for regular purchases sets this card apart from other retail-branded credit cards.

The only downside is that the card’s highest rate only applies to online purchases at Walmart.com. A restriction like this won’t be a problem for savvy online shoppers, but in-store shoppers will only earn 2 percent cash back. You’ll have difficulty finding another credit card with high rates at Walmart because many rewards cards exclude Walmart purchases from categories like grocery stores.

APR: Potentially low ongoing APR without penalty rates

Depending on your creditworthiness, you can qualify for an APR a few percentage points lower than the current average credit card APR. Manycash back cards have favorable APRs, but store-branded cards like the Walmart Rewards Mastercard usually have relatively steep APRs that can inflate your credit card balance with interest.

The Walmart Mastercard also doesn’t charge a penalty APR. While you shouldn’t make late payments a habit, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your APR won’t rise substantially for missing your due date.

Although this card has its strengths for Walmart customers, it has several drawbacks that make it a poor choice for everyday cardholders who want a simple cash back card.

Welcome offer: Requires heavy spending to remain competitive

You can earn 5 percent cash back on purchases in Walmart stores for the first 12 months when using your card with Walmart Pay. If you prefer to shop online at Walmart.com, this welcome offer is nearly valueless since it matches your ongoing cash back rate for online Walmart.com purchases.

Standard welcome offers on comparable cash back cards hover around $200 in value and require you to spend anywhere from $500 to $3,000 to earn. The Walmart Rewards Mastercard has a welcome offer that doesn’t place a ceiling on your cash bonus and doesn’t have a spending requirement. You can spend as much as you want in stores to earn 5 percent back, but you’ll need to spend heavily to match the $200 value of competing offers.

To make this offer competitive, you’ll need to spend $4,000 or more in-store at Walmart during the first year. You’d earn $200 cash back at a rate of 5 percent. Without the extra 3 percent from the welcome offer, you’d only earn about $80 for spending the same amount.

No intro APR: Interest can accrue early on

Many of the best cash back cards come with introductory APR offers for either balance transfers or new purchases, letting cardholders curb interest until the offer term ends. The Walmart Rewards Mastercard doesn’t come with either meaning your balance will accrue interest at the card’s regular APR if you carry a balance.

Lacking an intro APR isn’t necessarily a glaring drawback, but it could be on this card because of how cardholders might take advantage of the welcome offer. It would be much easier to squeeze value out of that welcome offer if you had an intro APR to help you keep your balance low, especially if you plan on racking up large charges to make the most of your in-store cash back rate for the first year.

Perks: Nothing to add value

The Walmart Rewards Mastercard doesn’t have any rewarding perks or benefits. Many issuers include solid perks on their rewards cards, such as statement credits and travel protections.These benefits can provide added value to your card as well as cover emergency situations. This card lacks even the most basic travel and shopping benefits, making this a major drawback compared to other cards.

For many, Walmart is more than a retailer—it’s the primary hub for groceries, home goods, auto care and more. With unlimited 5 percent cash back on purchases at Walmart.com, which includes grocery pickup and delivery, there’s a lot to love for those who can shop online at the superstore.

However, if you prefer shopping at different stores or do not live close to a Walmart, getting the card may not be worthwhile. Instead, consider adding a rewards card to your wallet that offers rewards in broader categories that match your spending habits.

*The information about the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and the Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.

Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest).

We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review:

Read more from Robert

Read moreCash Back