Hey all,
Just thought I'd share my current experience with Cap1. I have been a Walmart+ member for a year now & prob 90% of all purchases in that time period have been from Walmart. I'm prob one of the last few people on the planet that doesn't really shop on Amazon. Not that I'm anti-Amazon or anything. I just like the convenience of ordering whatever I need from the local Walmart store & having it delivered to my house that day or the next morning. Also, although I haven't had to do it for any reason, I like the fact that I can return/exchange something the same day at my local Walmart (15 minutes from my house) rather than going through the return process with online only retailers.
With that being said, I decided it would be worth the 3 hard pulls to get 5% back on my purchases. I went to the the Cap1 site & went directly to the Walmart card. Since it is a co-branded card, it doesn't show up in the main pre-qual offers. Once you pull up the Walmart card on Cap1's site, you can prequal from that page. It came back "Pre-Approved for Walmart Rewards Mastercard". I completed the quick app & was immediately approved with $2,000 SL @ 23.49%. While not the highest interest rate it could have been, it's still ridiculously high. Fortunately, I've been rotating cards each month, religiously sticking to AZEO across my cards, making sure that I'm at 1-2% util when billing cycle ends & paying "the card of the month" off immediately after stmt cuts.
While the SL is only $2k, I can't imagine any one purchase that I would make from Walmart that would hit or exceed that amount. I'm pretty happy I made the decision to eat the 3 hp's for the rewards I'll get back on all of my purchases without ever having to actually step foot in the store. I know my situation is unique & that most people spread their spend out among more retailers. But, for me, it works. I'm a pretty simple guy. LOL!
My Fico scores listed below aren't current. I need to update those & will try to do so soon. Just as a side-note: As of this month, I'm 3 yrs post ch7 discharge. I'm not aggressive when it comes to applying for credit. I basically just want to earn rewards & have a nice safety net in case of an emergency. I've gone from starting out with a NFCU $500 secured nRewards card to currently having $40,350 in available credit. The journey back is different for everyone but I'm happy with my progress.
Wishing each of you a safe, happy & prosperous 2022!!!
Thanks @CreditAggie !!! I see those NFCU cards are in your "goal cards". Hope you can make that happen soon. NFCU has been very good to me & soooo many others.
Thanks, & you're welcome @Borealis . Looks like you're making some nice progress on your scores. I'm copying & pasting a response that I gave to someone else awhile back regarding their secured NFCU nRewards card. You may already know this but, if not, it may be helpful in getting your card to graduate:
This is just my personal experience & opinion. Keep in mind that when I was in a similar situation in 2019, the world was a totally different pre-Covid landscape.
I started my rebuild with a $500 secured card from NFCU. After 6 months, it did not graduate. When I called to ask why, it was because a stmt is only generated (on all NFCU cards) if the card has been used during the stmt cycle. No usage=nothing to report to you so no stmt. I had only used the card 5 out of the 6 stmt cycles. The NFCU rep told me to use the card, generate a 6th stmt & see if it caused the card to graduate.
I made a small purchase on the card & immediately paid it off. But, I also went ahead & applied online for an unsecured cashRewards card. I was amazed when I was immediately approved for a cashRewards Visa Signature with an $11,500 SL. Thank you NFCU!!!
As soon as the 6th stmt cut on the secured card it graduated. My security deposit was released & I was given an auto SL increase on that card.
Best of luck!!!
