Summary -Walmart has teamed up with Discover to offer the Walmart Discover Card. Unlike the regular Walmart credit card (which is a store credit card that can only be used at Walmart), this card is a regular Discover credit card. But as we are going to find out, the card does not allow you to earn any reward points (since Walmart has no reward program), nor extra rebates for shopping at Walmart (guess Walmart thinks they are doing you a favor by offering cut throat prices for stuff made in China!). At the end of the review, we are going to highlight a card which at least let's you earn 5% rebates from shopping at Walmart.com. Continue reading.....
Rewards? Nada! - The Walmart Discover Card is a slimmed down version of the regular Discover More Card. You can earn cash rebates (up to 1%). How? For the first $1,500 in annual spending, you get to earn a tiny 0.25%. For the next $1,500 in spending, you earn 0.5% rebates. Once you spending exceeds $3,000, you earn the regular 1% cash back. But other than that, you do not earn any extra rebates from shopping at Walmart.
Save At Walmart Gas Stations - However, like the regular Walmart store card, you can also save 3 cents a gallon at Walmart gas stations. Also, from now until the end of the year, there is a special promotion going on. From now till 9/30/2011, you can save 10 cents per gallon, though the offer is not valid in Oklahoma or Minnesota. From 10/1/2011 till 12/31/2011, you can save 5 cents per gallon. From 2012 onwards, the regular 3 cents savings apply.
Get FICO Scores For Free - One of the really cool feature of this card is that you can get your monthly FICO scores. The website does not say which one? Since Experian no longer provides consumers with their FICO score, we can only assume that it will either be TransUnion, Equifax or both. But this is still cool as you have to pay FICO to get your scores.
Fees - There is no annual fee for the Walmart Credit Card. The apr is rather high at 22.90%. But it reflects their customer profile and the fact that most applicants do not have excellent credit.
Walmart Discover Card Compared To Discover It Card
I have one big issue with the Walmart Discover Card. And that is you cannot earn extra rebates from shopping at Walmart. But wait, the Amex Costco Card also has this issue. But at least they make it up by letting you earn extra rebates on things like gasoline, travel and dining. The regular Discover More Card offers even more features and one little surprise.
Walmart Discover Card versus Discover It Card - The regular Discover It Card also has the same rebate formula as the Walmart Discover Card. But it offers 5% quarterly rotating category on various categories. In addition to that, they have a shopping portal called shopdiscover.com whereby you can earn between 5% and 20% rebates with their online merchant partners. And guess what? Walmart.com is one of their partners. And you can earn 5% rebates when you shop at Walmart.com through your Discover account! See proof below. Discover is now also offering their card members free fico scores every month in their statement (and also online).
Verdict - The Walmart Discover Card is a trimmed down version of the regular Discover It Card. It does offer a couple of neat features like being able to save three cents a gallon at Walmart affiliated gas stations. You get also get a monthly update for your FICO score for free (which Discover also now provides for all their cards). If these are important features for you, then perhaps this is the card for you. But I can't help but think that this card falls way short of the regular Discover It Card, which offers 5% quarterly rotating categories and also allows you to earn 5% cash rebates when you shop at Walmart.com. It puzzles me that the Walmart Discover Card does not have this feature whereas the Discover has it. The Discover It also offers a great 0% APR deal and has a low APR if you have good credit. If you have excellent credit, we should suggest skipping this card and getting the Discover It® instead.
However, many folks who are looking at this card do not have excellent, but instead have average credit. If this describes you and your score is in the 600s, we would suggest getting the Barclays Rewards MasterCard® for Average Credit as they also offer complimentary FICO scores and you also earn earn extra rewards on gas, grocery and utility spending.