topic Re: Walmart Store Card going to be Comenity not Synchrony? in Credit Cards

New Walmart Credit Partner > Capital One

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 20:16:28 GMT

I have a walmart credit card issued by Synchrony. I have read that Walmart will not renew their partnership with Synchrony and will instead employ Capital One for credit cards. My question is this: Will my credit card convert to a Cap1 card or will it stay with Synchrony? I cannot find information on the web about this.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

trusty — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 16:47:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have a walmart credit card issued by Synchrony. I have read that Walmart will not renew their partnership with Synchrony and will instead employ Capital One for credit cards. My question is this: Will my credit card convert to a Cap1 card or will it stay with Synchrony? I cannot find information on the web about this.

In my experience, when banks sell their credit portfolio, eventually all of the customers get moved over to the new bank.

Depending on one's relationship history with the new bank, it could be either a way in, or a way out. For example, I used to have a large business and personal presence with Citi. At some point after the financial crisis, the relationship was abruptly terminated, without cause. It was widely reported that Citi had essentially culled a large portion of their portfolio, most likely due to the lack of supporting deposits, at the time.

However, I've had a Best Buy card for years; and when HSBC sold that portfolio to Citi, I ended up back with Citi, without any apparent side effects. Although, I haven't yet begun to apply for any other Citi cards, mainly due to the fact that my entire positive Equifax credit file had vanished, for a while, and came back all messed up. It took several months just to get Equifax to get my file back in order; and since it has become arduous to deal with Equifax, and their largely broken systems... I'm staying away from anything to do with them, for the time being.

I've also had it work the other way. HSBC sold one of my accounts to US Bank, as well; but, US Bank just closed it, citing a past relationship... which was not with them. In fact, I had never before had any account with US Bank. However, the HSBC account that was sold, had been caught up in a major breach, just prior to the conversion; so it ended up being a misunderstanding that US Bank unfairly penalized. Furthermore, the last time I applied for a credit card with US Bank, they again cited a past relationship... which they have now apparently adopted as their own.

So, I would suspect that as long as the relationship is good with the current account, that the transition will be smooth... perhaps even if the new bank is personally toxic. But, it also partially depends on the current climate, and how the markets are driving the availability of credit, or the lack thereof. Ultimately, everyone's situation is subject to their own relationships.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

FinStar — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 16:44:02 GMT

OP, at this point given the recent litigation issue, nothing is definitive.

So, pending the outcome of that, part or all of the existing portfolio could stay with SYNCB or potentially go to Capital One.

There's a recent article on the latest developments:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-in-the-News/WalMart-sues-Synchrony-for-800m/td-p/5399387

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:23:36 GMT

Yes I have read every article to date and none cite what will happen to current card users.

I have a Cap1 card that is in good standing so my relationship with them is fine. My actual worry is will interest rates change and Account Age be affected. I have never had a card that has gone through this so was just wondering what to expect. Thanks for your replies

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

CreditCuriosity — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 19:17:57 GMT

Sync and walmart aren't getting along to well atm.. So wouldnt suprise me if Sync doesn't sell their customer data to Cap1.. Although contacts could be in place where they are forced to convert them, etc. Should be a nice show to watch.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

trusty — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 18:27:38 GMT

@CreditCuriosity wrote:
Sync and walmart aren't getting along to well atm.. So wouldnt suprise me if Sync doesn't sell their customer data to Cap1.. Although contacts could be in place where they are forced to convert them, etc. Should be a nice show to watch.

Yes. Get your popcorn ready.

Although, I think that Sync just wants to be fairly compensated for selling the portfolio; which, is not at all unreasonable, considering the size of it.

It seems to me that the termination compensation was either already in their agreement with Walmart, or is missing entirely. Either way, Wally world knows they have to pay, and is having a hissy-fit about paying. Wouldn't you know, Walmart acting just like its own customers.

As if any company can afford to give up their largest contract without compensation. This is not a one-off fulfillment contract, that can be cancelled on a whim. This is the kind of thing that would likely sink Synchrony Bank, if they didn't come out of it with at least a couple hundred million, and I would suspect they're probably pining for closer to a billion (or more) in compensation, for their troubles.

Ultimately, an independent arbiter needs to decide what is fair. (try finding one) But, the idea that anyone owes Walmart the ability to unilaterally cancel major contracts, just because they are too big to fail, and deserve to be treated better than anyone else in the same situation - is ridiculous.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

jamesdwi — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 19:39:02 GMT

All benefits should stay the same, if you are in good history with syncrony, and also capitalone. CapitalOne will want to make the transistion as smoothly as possible. The tradeline may change on your credit report, but open date should remain the same. Customer Aquistion is expensive, they don't want to lose a customer they just paid for. Walmart credit cards are all above 20% APR, so there is no real reason to see any changes to the card holder APR's. Capitalone will have reviewed the accounts to see the performance of the card holders across all card holders so they won't make any drastic changes to the acounts for at least 6 months or more likely a year or more if everything stays in good shape. But as some of us here are outliers of the credit world, with Excessively high limits, (guilty 10k here). If we poke the bear or have any issues with CapOne or other creditors, we can Look forward to Balance chasing and CLD, until are limits are more in line with others.

Also the friendly text or voice chats with customer service or credit specialists will go away, no more ask nicely and go from a $500 limit to $5000 in 5 minutes. Future CLI's will follow CapOne's patterns.

TL;DR In the end, make your payments, keep your credit reports clean, and use the card and all should be good.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 01:05:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have a walmart credit card issued by Synchrony. I have read that Walmart will not renew their partnership with Synchrony and will instead employ Capital One for credit cards. My question is this: Will my credit card convert to a Cap1 card or will it stay with Synchrony? I cannot find information on the web about this.

Noooooooo! Say it ain't so!

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

KDKobes — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 06:07:30 GMT

I have a reverse-real-world example. I had a Capital One Furniture Row Card for a few years, about 6 months ago I got notified that Furniture Row was changing the card financier to Synchrony Bank and that my current card would be closed in a few months. I had to apply for a new card all over again through Furniture Row/Synchrony Bank & Cap1 just closed my older card account about 2 weeks ago on my report. My guess is it might end up just like that.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

trusty — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 12:06:27 GMT

Sometimes, when buying a credit card portfolio, a bank will sift through the customers, to get the pick of the litter. Or, to mitigate risk.

So, while some customers will experience a smooth transition, others will just get their accounts closed, in the transition.

It could be something as simple as, taking everyone with a credit score above 680, for example. Higher or lower depending on their risk tolerance.

It can also be taking everyone within a certain balance threshold.

The point is that, it just depends on whether the new bank thinks they can make a profit, without taking immediate losses.

So, they weed out accounts based an an arbitrary set of standards... and you either get a new card, or you don't. But, it doesn't mean that you don't qualify for the card. It just means that the new bank wasn't willing to pay a commission for certain accounts, in the deal.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

UncleB — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 23:06:06 GMT

@KDKobes wrote:
I have a reverse-real-world example. I had a Capital One Furniture Row Card for a few years, about 6 months ago I got notified that Furniture Row was changing the card financier to Synchrony Bank and that my current card would be closed in a few months. I had to apply for a new card all over again through Furniture Row/Synchrony Bank & Cap1 just closed my older card account about 2 weeks ago on my report. My guess is it might end up just like that.

That does happen sometimes, but the Walmart portfolio is absolutely huge compared to Furniture Row, and honestly I just can't imagine Walmart (or Capital One, for that matter) allowing the existing customer accounts to be closed.

I would have to go dig though the previous news releases, but I would be surprised if it hasn't already been mentioned that existing customers will be migrated over.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

zerofire — Sun, 09 Dec 2018 05:12:49 GMT

Transfer or closure is highly dependent on on who is calling which shots. Walmart for example will want the approval score low and as many accounts transferred as possible. Considering that currently the score is set at 600 I would question how much more they can change it downward without causing massive losses. Only Synchrony Bank as far as I know would tolerate such a low entry level with those benefits. The next lowest as far as I know is 620 or 640 from Amazon but Chase is servicing that one so it might be some common sense arguments behind the scenes. Switching Walmart to Capitol One might actually have Capitol One asking for a slight score increase to avoid servicing people that are ridiculously far away from being stable.

@trusty

I recommend double checking with US bank which previous relationship they are referring to. US bank is known to occasionally absorb other banks but obviously not as much as the bigger names and if it was one of theirs then they will hold a grudge until you appease them. You might be able to make an arrangement for entry but you need to figure out how they think they were burned. It could have been a paperwork error. I would think you know which lenders you took the liberty of sinking with your debt.

Re: New Walmart Credit Partner

RonM21 — Sun, 09 Dec 2018 14:13:56 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@KDKobes wrote:
I have a reverse-real-world example. I had a Capital One Furniture Row Card for a few years, about 6 months ago I got notified that Furniture Row was changing the card financier to Synchrony Bank and that my current card would be closed in a few months. I had to apply for a new card all over again through Furniture Row/Synchrony Bank & Cap1 just closed my older card account about 2 weeks ago on my report. My guess is it might end up just like that.
That does happen sometimes, but the Walmart portfolio is absolutely huge compared to Furniture Row, and honestly I just can't imagine Walmart (or Capital One, for that matter) allowing the existing customer accounts to be closed.

I would have to go dig though the previous news releases, but I would be surprised if it hasn't already been mentioned that existing customers will be migrated over.

Could you imagine that. All of these people getting their accounts closed. That would be a fire storm for sure. I haven't really reacted, as I have the Walmart card, and I am jsut kind of playing the wait and see game. I won't dive into the hype until I know for sure what is going to happen.

Walmart Store Card going to be Capital One not Synchrony?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:30:02 GMT

I was reading different things about the Walmart card and I read that Comenity is going to be assuming Walmart store cards and Synchrony is going to be keeping Sam's Club. I also read that Comenity is going to issue HSN cards.

Anyone else hear this? Do you think it will affect approval odds for getting the Walmart store card? I want to apply for it around June (about 8 months after DC).
Thanks!
**edited to change thread name to Capital One

Re: Walmart Store Card going to be Comenity not Synchrony?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:15:41 GMT

Capital One is getting the new accounts, not Comenity and there will undoubtedly be tightening when that happens.

Re: Walmart Store Card going to be Comenity not Synchrony?

returnofthemack — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:14:13 GMT

Would it be a good time to seek higher credit lines now before the capital one transfer?

Re: Walmart Store Card going to be Comenity not Synchrony?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:18:14 GMT

@returnofthemack wrote:
Would it be a good time to seek higher credit lines now before the capital one transfer?

I don’t know that it would make much of a difference. If Capital One ends up buying the accounts, they will likely review exposure for all of them and CLD to fit within their parameters for acceptable risk.

Re: Walmart Store Card going to be Comenity not Synchrony?

CivalV — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:25:47 GMT

When I applied for my HSN CC early December and when I made my online account it was through the Comenity portal. SYNC is not a fan of my profile and for years I have been denied accounts from them. I assumed HSN was Comenity.

Re: Walmart Store Card going to be Comenity not Synchrony?

AverageJoesCredit — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:32:27 GMT

I dont know what would be worse, Cap One getting Wally, or Comenity. Its like choosing between a Cld, or a credit limit decrease

Re: Walmart Store Card going to be Comenity not Synchrony?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:35:47 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
I dont know what would be worse, Cap One getting Wally, or Comenity. Its like choosing between a Cld, or a credit limit decrease

Capital One = CLD half the accounts

Comenity = close half the accounts