Walmart To Replace Synchrony Cards With Capital One On October 11th

Update 7/17/19: Existing cardholders have been sent a letter stating that their existing Synchrony cards will be converted to Capital One and they will receive the new cards by October 11th, 2019.

Update 1/22/19: During a conference call to discuss Q4 earnings Capital One said they expect to launch the new program and onboard acquired cardholders in the third quarter or early fourth quarter of 2019. Portfolio is expected to consist of $9 billion of receivables. Hat tip to reader Joey M

Walmart chooses Capital One as their credit card issuer, in a blow to their current backer Synchrony, WSJ reports. Capital One will issue both the stores cards for use at Walmart and the co-branded cards which can be used anywhere.

The move is the biggest portfolio change since Costco shifted over to Citibank, and hits Synchrony hard with the loss of their 19-year retail partner. Walmart is one of Synchrony’s five biggest clients, accounting for about 19% of Synchrony’s store-card portfolio.

It’s not known what will happen to existing Walmart-Synchrony cardholders, amounting to about $10 billion. Sometimes banks will buy out the back-book of the previous issuer, other times it won’t. Also no word whether the rewards structure will change (or whether they’ll start offering signup bonuses better than a 2-liter bottle of soda), but I expect most of those kinds of details will remain similar to how it’s been until now.

It was down to Capital One and Synchrony in the running, and ultimately Walmart chose Capital One with an eye toward a more tech-forward partner with broader banking capabilities and a digital future.

Synchrony just recently spent $7 billion purchasing consumer credit receivables from PayPal and extending that co-branded relationship until 2028.

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