Just got offered to 'upgrade' to Walmart Discover

[Kraner]

From the research I've done have there are other ways to 'upgrade'. Several people say they get a letter from walmart saying 'We will be upgrading your account in 65 days'. For me, I have to apply for the card, so I'd have to believe it would start the month/year I applied for the new one thus affecting aaoa.

I'll sleep on it a few more nights, give GE a call (although I hear their customer service is horrible) and see what they have to say.

Thanks for your help all. Of course if anyone else wants to chime in please do!

[asphaltcowboy]

I don't believe you would have to apply if the pop up offered you the upgrade,

there seems to be many post about the pop up upgrade recently, maybe they

are changing from the written letter invitation??

[Kraner]

This is what it looks like. And funny you mention maybe they are changing their invite procedure. 2 months after the CLI I got I finally got a letter saying it went up ha.

 

[09Lexie]

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@myjourney wrote:

09 Lexie wrote: from another thread

I did a live chat with Walmart to answer some questions we've had posted and to ask about payments on my new account. I am attached the screenshot and I apologize that its blurry but it went from ipad to email to print to scan in order to delete personal information.

The jist of it is the following:

1. Until your account completely migrates over (1-2 billing cycles) pay the store card.  The Discover card ( if it looks like mine) still does not show a balance.
2. You can use your Discover card for purchases
3. The upgrade will not effect your credit report because I did not apply for a Discover card.  They will report it as transferred and the open the new card saving the history.

Edit:  removed scan- it was to blurry 

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The CSR that provided the information was wrong.  The new TL will show a new open date. My store card was opened in Oct 2012; received the upgrade June/July 2013 and the new to reports opened July 2013. 

[Kraner]

Thanks!

[Revelate]

Is there any reason to ever accept the upgrade then? By the time the upgrade is offered people should (objectively) have better cards than that anyway?

@Lexie: Other than the retail card notation (was that even changed?) does it report differently?

[Kraner]

I was wondering that last part too. Experian has it listed as a 'charge card' although it does have a CL and doesn't need to be PIF each month. Since the Walmart Discover is 'sort of discover' than it would probably be listed as 'credit card'. So, it would be smart to keep the orginal so I have different types of credit.

[Revelate]

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@Kraner wrote:

I was wondering that last part too. Experian has it listed as a 'charge card' although it does have a CL and doesn't need to be PIF each month. Since the Walmart Discover is 'sort of discover' than it would probably be listed as 'credit card'. So, it would be smart to keep the orginal so I have different types of credit.

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Anecdotally, revolving = revolving.  Store card vs. National Bank card is immaterial.

Least from reports, if you took two identical no-file people, and first person got 3 store cards out the gate, and the other got 3 national bank cards out the gate, I think you'd see identical scores from the mix of credit function assuming we did something to baseline like have them all report $0 for comparison purposes.

Of course, personally I'd much rather have the 3 national bank card profile, but from a pure FICO scoring perspective it's a wash.

If I ever have kids maybe I'll try that experiment .

[indiolatino61]

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@Kraner wrote:

Firstly, I'm a young adult, 20, and began my credit journey 21 months ago. I started out with a $1000 loan on a CD for a year that I paid off a month early.

9 months ago I applied for the walmart store card to pay for gas, got it with an CL of $900. After 6 months of paying ~$250 in full each month (the day the statement ends) they bumped me up to $2,100 CL. I stand there today. However I just signed into my account and got offered to upgrade to the Walmart Discover. Deciding on if it is worth it to go for the upgrade. Pros - I can use the card other places, if an emergency comes about I'll have a sizable CL to use. Cons - Store card will be closed (affecting aaoa later on). Other factors - I've heard about CLD, I only bring in $10,000 a year (school full time, work several part time jobs).

Additional information - Since I have the paperless statements through GE (walmart) I get access to my FICO score and it currently has me at 724. 6 months ago I also applied for the Amazon Visa and got it with a $500 limit. I very much love the rewards that go along with the card. I have paid ~$250 in full each month (the day the statement ends) since and I'd like to ask for a CLI one of these months.

So, is the upgrade something I should consider? Supposedly I have 120 days to decide.

Thanks!

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Personally, I won't accept it because I already have the IT card. Like MyJourney said, it is not a true Discover card and will not have the benefits. The best of luck to you.

[09Lexie]

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@Revelate wrote:

Is there any reason to ever accept the upgrade then? By the time the upgrade is offered people should (objectively) have better cards than that anyway?

@Anonymous: Other than the retail card notation (was that even changed?) does it report differently?

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Heres a screenshot of how it reports :

Status:  Open/Never late.
Date Opened:  07/2013 Date of Status:  01/2014 Reported Since:  06/2013 Last Reported Date:  01/2014	Type:  Credit card Terms:  N/A  Monthly Payment:  $25 Responsibility:  Individual	Credit Limit:  $12,000 High Balance:  $850  Recent Balance:  $199 Recent Payment:  $71
Payment history legend OK  Current/Terms of agreement met
Balance History - The following data will appear in the following format: account balance / date payment received / scheduled payment amount / actual amount paid Dec 2013: $0 / December 19, 2013 / $25 / $90  Nov 2013: $0 / November 19, 2013 / $25 / no data  Oct 2013: $0 / October 21, 2013 / $25 / $850  Sep 2013: $675 / September 15, 2013 / $25 / $50  Aug 2013: $649 / August 15, 2013 / $25 / $50
Limit High Balance History:  Between Nov 2013 and Dec 2013, your credit limit/high balance was $12,000  Between Aug 2013 and Oct 2013, your credit limit/high balance was $5,000
Your Statement:  N/A The store card reported this way Status:  Transferred,closed/Never late.     Date Opened:  09/2012 Date of Status:  08/2013 Reported Since:  09/2012 Last Reported Date:  08/2013 Type:  Charge Card Terms:  N/A  Monthly Payment:  $0 Responsibility:  Individual  Credit Limit:  $4,000 High Balance:  $869  Recent Balance:  N/A Recent Payment:  N/A   Comment:  Account closed due to transfer.     Payment history legend OK  Current/Terms of agreement met Balance History - The following data will appear in the following format: account balance / date payment received / scheduled payment amount / actual amount paid Jul 2013: $684 / July 17, 2013 / $25 / $200  Jun 2013: $562 / June 18, 2013 / $25 / $115  May 2013: $347 / May 12, 2013 / $25 / $100  Apr 2013: $293 / April 7, 2013 / $25 / no data  Mar 2013: $362 / March 8, 2013 / $25 / $85  Feb 2013: $356 / February 17, 2013 / $25 / $123  Jan 2013: $472 / January 11, 2013 / $25 / $260  Dec 2012: $256 / December 13, 2012 / $25 / $70  Nov 2012: $320 / November 13, 2012 / $25 / $50  Oct 2012: $139 / no data / $25 / no data  Sep 2012: $0 / no data / Unknown / no data   Limit High Balance History:  Between Apr 2013 and Jul 2013, your credit limit/high balance was $4,000  Between Dec 2012 and Mar 2013, your credit limit/high balance was $1,000  Between Sep 2012 and Nov 2012, your credit limit/high balance was $700 As as you can see, they are barely used...just enough to get the CLI's