Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard® Review 2024

• Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* Introduction
• Quick Facts
• What Is the Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* Best For?
• Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* Rewards
• Other Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* Benefits
• Fine Print
• How the Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* Stacks Up
• Is the Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* for You?
• Methodology

The Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* is an ideal choice for those who do a significant amount of shopping at Walmart. Although the superstore is already known for its everyday low prices, using the Walmart credit card to pay for your purchases will snag you even more savings. You’ll earn a generous 5% cash back on purchases made at Walmart.com and the Walmart app, including grocery pickup and delivery, 2% cash back on restaurants and travel, and at Walmart Stores, Walmart & Murphy USA fuel stations and 1% back everywhere else.

But there is a catch. In order to score 5% cash back you’ll have to order online. Unlike this card’s likely biggest competitor, the Prime Visa, which primarily functions as an online store, Walmart has a significant physical footprint with over 10,500 stores around the world. For the first year, this won’t be a problem since there’s an introductory offer of 5% cash back on purchases made in Walmart stores for the first 12 months of account opening when using the Capital One Walmart Rewards card with Walmart Pay.

That means shopping at your local Walmart for groceries, garden supplies, clothes or anything else only earns 2% after the first year. However, if you’re up for shifting to pickup or delivery options, you can still recoup 5% with the card. If you’re committed to in-store shopping earning 2% on your Walmart spending, then you’d likely be better off with a card earning 2% on all your purchases.

• No annual fee
• Welcome bonus: Earn 5% cash back on purchases made in Walmart stores for the first 12 months of account opening when using the Capital One Walmart Rewards card with Walmart Pay
• Earn 5% cash back on purchases made at Walmart.com and the Walmart app, including grocery pickup and delivery, 2% cash back on restaurants and travel, and at Walmart Stores, Walmart & Murphy USA fuel stations and 1% back everywhere else

If you’re both a die-hard online shopper and a Walmart lover, this card could be a fit. Otherwise, consider a card that is likely to reap greater rewards.

Earning Rewards

The Capital One Walmart Credit Card earns rewards at the following rates: 5% cash back on purchases made at Walmart.com and the Walmart app, including grocery pickup and delivery, 2% cash back on restaurants and travel, and at Walmart Stores, Walmart & Murphy USA fuel stations and 1% back everywhere else.

If you already go straight to your Walmart app when you need to shop, you’ll be rewarded with a generous 5% cash back on your purchases. This includes grocery pickup and delivery, which makes the Walmart Rewards card somewhat unique. Most credit cards that have groceries as a bonus category exclude superstores such as Walmart in their fine print. That said, if you prefer in-person shopping, your rewards will be less lucrative, after the first year. If you connect your card to Walmart Pay and pay for your in-store purchases with your phone, you will earn 5% cash back for the first 12 months, then 2% thereafter.

Earning 2% cash back on dining, travel and co-branded gas stations could also be achieved with a straight cash-back card. So crunch the numbers carefully. Earning 1% cash back on all other purchases is not competitive compared to the best cash-back credit cards.

Redeeming Rewards

The simplest way to apply the rewards from the Walmart Rewards card is via a statement credit. You can also use the rewards during online checkout at Walmart.com, at the cash register with Walmart Pay, through the Capital One travel center to book travel or to purchase gift cards. Considering the value is identical regardless of method, redeeming for a statement credit is likely the way to go as it can be applied to any purchase made on the card.

Rewards Potential

To determine the rewards potential of credit cards, Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $118,438 annually, and we estimate $39,337 of that can be put on a credit card.

Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* Rewards Potential
Category	Earning Rate	Estimated Annual Spend	Estimated Annual Earnings
Groceries Purchased Through Walmart.com or In-Store Using Walmart Pay the First Year	5%	$7,243	36,215
Additional Shopping at Walmart.com or In-Store Using Walmart Pay the First Year	5%	$4,547	22,735
Gas Purchased at Walmart-Owned Stations	2%	$2,990	5,980
Restaurants	2%	$4,622	9,244
Travel	2%	$8,573	17,146
All Other Purchases	1%	$11,362	11,362
			Total: 102,682 Walmart Rewards or $1,026.82

See MoreSee Less

The chart above assumes all Walmart purchases will earn 5% cash back using Walmart Pay. In addition, Forbes Advisor assumes that all gas purchases are made at Walmart-owned stations. Following the first year, any Walmart purchases made in-store only earn 2% cash back.

Read more. Best Rewards Credit Cards

Available as both a World Mastercard and World Elite Mastercard, the Capital One Walmart card can come with several perks and benefits depending on which one you get:

• Price protection. Get reimbursed for up to $250 of the price difference if the identical eligible item purchased with your Capital One Walmart card is listed at a lower price at an eligible retailer within 120 days of your purchase date. Maximum of four claims per year.
• Extended warranty. Covers up to an additional two years on an existing warranty of two years or less and up to $10,000 for repair or replacement of the item.
• Cellphone insurance. Only offered on the World Elite version of the card, coverage up to $800 per eligible claim and $1,000 per 12-month period. Each claim is subject to a $50 deductible. Coverage is limited to two claims per 12-month period.
• Auto rental insurance coverage. Get secondary coverage for damage or theft to an eligible rental when you pay for the entire purchase with your card or decline coverage at the rental counter. Only available with the World Elite Mastercard version.
• Concierge service. At no cost to you, a World Elite concierge will help you choose a restaurant in an unfamiliar city, book event tickets or make travel reservations.
• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance. If your trip is canceled or interrupted for a covered reason, like an eligible medical issue, World Elite cardholders receive up to $1,500 in reimbursement for common carrier charges.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 19.48% or 29.99% variable
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: N/A

Fees

• Annual fee: $0
• Balance transfer fee: 3% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts to your account at a promotional APR that we may offer you.
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: $0

Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* vs. Prime Visa

The card most similar to the Walmart credit card is the Prime Visa. The Prime Visa card charges no annual fee but requires a $139 annual Prime membership ($69 for students) to be eligible for the card and earn the highest rewards. Cardholders earn 5% back on purchases at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and on Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership, 2% back at gas stations, restaurants and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare), and 1% back on other purchases.

Prime also offers free same-day, one-day and two-day shipping on millions of items with the “Prime” shipping offer. Walmart offers free two-day shipping on millions of items, too, but that’s for everyone, not just cardholders.

The structure and perks of both cards are so similar that it essentially comes down to whether you prefer shopping with Amazon or Walmart. If you’re not sure you have a preference, consider a general purpose cash-back card instead.

Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* vs. Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi*

Costco often competes with Walmart in major markets, and its co-branded card, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi* offers strong cash-back rewards too. The Costco card has no annual fee but does require a Costco membership to apply (beginning at $60 a year). While it doesn’t provide the 5% incentive for online purchases that the Walmart Rewards card does, it offers better rewards in other categories: Earn 4% cash back on eligible gas and EV charging purchases for the first $7,000 spent annually, 1% thereafter, 3% cash back on restaurants and eligible travel purchases, 2% cash back on purchases from Costco and Costco.com and 1% cash back on all other purchases. A Costco membership is required to apply.

One potential drawback: You can only redeem your rewards once a year and it has to be in person at a Costco customer service counter. The rewards for online purchases are significantly less than the Walmart card, but the gas, dining and travel earnings are higher. Whether you choose this card over the Walmart card will depend on how and where your household spends.

Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®* vs. U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards® Visa Signature® Card*

The U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards® Visa Signature® Card* allows cardholders to earn rewards on par with even the most expensive premium cards by offering the opportunity to earn 6% cash back each quarter on combined eligible purchases from two retailers of choice ($1,500 limit), 5.5% cash back on prepaid car and hotel reservations booked through the Rewards Center, 3% cash back each quarter in one everyday category of choice ($1,500 limit) and 1.5% cash back on everything else. The catch of course; the 6% cash back is capped at $1,500 per quarter and limited to two retailers of your choice. This, naturally, will limit the rewards potential but it can still represent decent value if you select stores that you already frequent. If you manage to max out your spending cap each quarter, that would be $360 back to you annually from just the 6% category—nothing to sneeze at, to be sure.

The list of approved 6% retailers is subject to change but currently includes Walmart as well as other popular brands such as Apple, Home Depot and Target. The Walmart and Target options are particularly valuable since they sell groceries (and other everyday items), potentially turning this card into a high-value grocery rewards card. The Shopper Cash Rewards card has a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95. It’s light on additional benefits, so if you don’t think you will spend at one of the approved 6% retailers, you’re probably better off looking elsewhere.

If you spend regularly at Walmart, especially online, this card out earns all other no annual fee cash-back rewards for this retailer. However, there are cards offering 2% cash back on all purchases that may work out better overall. Depending on your spending habits and the number of cards you want to manage, the Walmart card could be a good addition to your wallet, but you may want to consider a more well-rounded card instead.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors, including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points or miles
• Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors come together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor rates credit cards