How often should I use my Walmart card to keep it from being cancelled?

[dddewdrop]

    If I don't use my card for 6 months or a year will they cancel it? I have had activity in the last year but the activity was just making payments to pay down the balance. My strategy is going to be to make a token purchase every six months to show activity. I like to buy razors from them online anway. I am curious however. Does making apayments on the balance count as activity? Are they more likely to cancel an account with a high outstanding balance, a low balance or no balance? I definately don't want my account cancelled but I don't want to have a balance either. I just want to not deal with it and have peace of mind that it won't be cancelled. Does my strategy of making a small purchase every 6 months make sense?

Thanks for response...

Dave

[DantGwyrdd]

Well, it's not re. Walmart SC specifically, but FWIW it's about Synchrony--I've recently had the limit on my Synch/Amazon SC slashed by half after about 15 months of non-usage so if you do keep charging something every 6 months you're probably safe with regards to it being closed at least.

[Anonymous]

Do you ever buy things on Amazon?  If so, you might want to set up the Amazon Allowance feature described in the link below.  Suppose for example, you set up a $2/month AA, funded by a monthly hit to your Walmart card.  Then you'd have a total of $24 a year added to your Amazon piggybank. 

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=surl_allowance?ie=UTF8&node=11453461011

Alternatively, if you can think of a grocery item you like (toilet paper, vitamins, whatever) you can use Amazon's Subscribe and Save and set up a purchase of that item to your Walmart card once every 3 months.

Just make sure you set up your Walmart card with autopay so it automatically pays your card every month with your checking account.  Once you do that you can shoebox the card and forget about it.  Same goes for any other card you want to forget about but also be confident it won't be canceled.

[DaveInAZ]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Do you ever buy things on Amazon?  If so, you might want to set up the Amazon Allowance feature described in the link below.  Suppose for example, you set up a $2/month AA, funded by a monthly hit to your Walmart card.  Then you'd have a total of $24 a year added to your Amazon piggybank. 

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=surl_allowance?ie=UTF8&node=11453461011

Alternatively, if you can think of a grocery item you like (toilet paper, vitamins, whatever) you can use Amazon's Subscribe and Save and set up a purchase of that item to your Walmart card once every 3 months.

Just make sure you set up your Walmart card with autopay so it automatically pays your card every month with your checking account.  Once you do that you can shoebox the card and forget about it.  Same goes for any other card you want to forget about but also be confident it won't be canceled.

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You can use a Walmart card for payment on Amazon? I tried adding mine as a payment card but Amazon didn't like the number.

I have a similar problem, my only 2 stores are with Synchrony - Walmart & Lowes cards, both with $5k CL. I have little incentive to use them, but I don't want any adverse action or CLD. Lowes should be OK, it's just with home improvement the current quarter 5% rewards I've been using Discover. But at Walmart I pay with Barclays Rewards MC as they categorize any Walmart purchase as 2% grocery rewards. But I just make a small purchase on the Walmart - $20-30 - every other month or so to keep them happy. That Amazon Allowance might work for the other card I've outgrown but want to keep - Merrick Bank Visa, nice $3100 CL, but no rewards.

The other problem with a Walmart card is if you have a zero balance they don't generate a statement. I carried a small balance last month that I PIF'd before due date just to get my first statement since last Feb.

[Anonymous]

I apologize.  I somehow thought that the Walmart card was co-branded with Visa or MC and that you could use it to buy stuff at Amazon and any other place that accepted major cards.  In that case setting up recurring charges would work. 

I think the alternative that most people recomend is to shoebox all your cards like that and take them out once every four months, make one purchase, let that amount  report on the next statement, and then pay the balance in full or (better yet) let your auto-pay pay it.

You mention that you carried a balance and that you did that so that Walmart will generate a statement.  You should never have to carry a balance.  Just for clarity, when you make a charge, then allow it to report on next month's statement, and then once it appears on the statement you pay it off -- that does not involve carrying a balance. 

Here is an example of carrying a balance and how it is different from reporting a balance:

     * You make a bunch of charges. 

     * Then a week later (say on the 5th) your statement prints and it says you have a balance of $400.  That's the amount you owe.  The due date will be (say) on the 28th.  This is also the amount that is reported to the three credit bureaus.  They report this roughly around the same date as the statement printed.

     * On the 15th you pay $100.  This is more than the minimum payment but less than the amount owed ($400). 

     * The difference is $300 and that is carried over to the following billing cycle.  You will get charged interest on that $300.

Carrying a balance does not hurt your score but it does not help your score either.  It costs you money (interest) and it is not needed to get the card to report balances to the credit bureaus. 

You may already have understood that, but it is a common misconception so I thought I'd throw that out there.

[DantGwyrdd]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I apologize.  I somehow thought that the Walmart card was co-branded with Visa or MC and that you could use it to buy stuff at Amazon and any other place that accepted major cards.  In that case setting up recurring charges would work. 

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Well, there's a version of the card that's not in a major network and is usable only at Walmarts and Sam's (the Store Card) and a version co-branded with MasterCard (and formerly Discover). Obviously, what you suggested would indeed work for the latter version, but not the former.

[Anonymous]

Hello!

I have a Chevron gas card issued by Synchrony. I use it once, maybe twice, a year to keep the account open. I have never had my CL decreased or account threatened to be closed. Actually, I just a $350 CLI on it. To be on the safe side, use it twice a year for small purchases and then PIF.

You are correct Walmart does not generate a statement unless you carry a balance over into the new biling cycle. You don't need them to generate a statement. All you need is activity to keep the account for becoming dormant.

I hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Just so I know what you mean... when you guys say "carry a balance" you mean some thing like the following, right?

* Suppose that we start with a zero balance and that your statement generates on the 15th of each month.  You owe no interest right now.   

* You make a purchase for $80 on Sept 5.  Now you have a balance of $80.   

* Your statement prints on Sept 15 with a balance of $80.  You have now entered a new billing cycle.  The total amount you owe is $80 and it is not due until sometime the next month (probably the Oct 10 or so).  Between now and the due date, your $80 is not generating any interest.

You are saying that the cardholder "carried a balance" of $80 from one cycle (Aug 15-Sept 15) into the next (Sept 15 - Oct 15).  Is that how you are using "carried"?

If so, that's alright, but just bear in mind that you will mislead people when you use the word that way.  Typically the phrase means (to take the example above) not paying the full $80 by the due date (Oct 10) and then carrying the difference into the billing cycle after that (Oct 15-Nov 15).  Carrying is a term that means not paying the amnount you owe in full.  It doesn't mean the fact that that your balance from the end of one cycle continues into the next.

[kdm31091]

If you really see no future use for the card whatsoever, and it won't impact your util much to close it, just close it. Not only do you have to remember to make a small charge every so often to keep it active, but it's another account to monitor for fraud etc, and if you are getting no benefit out of it, what's the point?

[Anonymous]

You can just charge a pack of gum to it or even paper towels from Walmart every 4-6 months or so. There are also small Walmart neighborhood markets that have a smaller town feel and have groceries only and a few other items. They're friendly and clean, and a different experience than going to a regular Walmart ( not a fan of the larger big box ones normally, but the neighborhood markets are a bit different). They have about 300 neighborhood markets that are much smaller.

Walmart has a big online presence on their website and sometimes you may find an item for the kitchen or bathroom you need there and can use that as your periodic use to the card - pyrex storage, electric toothbrush, waterpik, small kitchen appliance, etc. Gift cards are also a possibility for periodic purchases.

Hope this helps!