Get Ready to Kiss Your Credit Card Rewards Goodbye
Big box retailers like Walmart, Target, and Home Depot are enlisting the help of the federal government to take on credit card companies—and your rewards could be the casualty.
Once a year, usually late in February, my wife’s face brightens as she thumbs through our mail.
“We got our Costco rewards check,” she beams.
It’s not a ton of money, maybe $1,000. And the money is not actually coming from Costco, but from Visa, its credit card partner. Still, a $1,000 check is better than a kick in the teeth—and a merrier sight than the bills and junk mail we usually receive.
This is why I was alarmed at recent news that credit card rewards could soon go the way of the dodo.
The threat comes from the benign-sounding Credit Card Competition Act, a piece of legislation that failed to pass in 2022 but is once again being pushed by a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers.
The Capital One Walmart rewards card pays 5% cash back for Walmart.com,curbside and delivery purchases.
Rewards cards are for those with good credit who pay off the balance each month. Without rewards,they would just use a debit card, leaving credit card companies with the most
undesirable of customers, with the greatest risk of default.