MA Shoppers Will NOT Be Able to Use This Credit Card @ Wal-Mart

Attention Bay State Wal-Mart shoppers: There is some all-important news on how to pay for your merchandise nationwide, but if you have a Capital One credit card, you are out of luck. Here are the updated details on this ongoing story:

For starters, Wal-Mart has ended a partnership with Capital One that made the banking company the exclusive issuer of Walmart's consumer credit cards. Both companies recently announced this change in a joint statement.

The companies said card-holders in Massachusetts and nationwide can still use their Capital One Walmart Rewards cards, which will continue to accrue rewards unless customers are notified of a change. Capital One will retain ownership and servicing these credit card accounts. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company formed a partnership with Capital One in 2019 after ending their previous credit card deal with Synchrony Financial. This rewards card was co-branded and offered perks like cash back on in-store purchases and online orders set for pickup or delivery. This partnership was set to run through 2026.

So what happened? Wal-Mart eventually soured on Capital One. Last year, Wal-Mart sued the McLean, Virginia based company as they wanted to terminate the current agreement because Capital One was taking too long to process payments and mail replacement cards. The lawsuit also said Capital One "admitted" they failed to meet some of Walmart's service standards as these issues did not constitute grounds for the partnership to end, but Capital One representatives stated that Wal-Mart was attempting to "end the deal early."

A federal judge ruled in Wal-Mart's favor back in March. In a recent government filing, Capital One said there are approximately $8.5 billion in loans in the existing Walmart credit card portfolio. It's not yet clear when Wal-Mart might name a new banking partner. We will keep you posted on the latest developments.

(Some information obtained in this article courtesy of a recent story that aired on the Tiffany network: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/walmart-capital-one-credit-card-rewards-what-to-know/)