PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024

Report: Walmart and Capital One Settle Legal Battle

Walmart and Capital One have reportedly settled a lawsuit centering on their former credit card partnership.

The case was dismissed Thursday (June 20) by a judge after the companies resolved their claims and counterclaims, Reuters reported Friday (June 21).

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, according to the report.

Neither Walmart nor Capital One immediately replied to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

This report comes about a month after the two companies said in a May 24 joint press release that they ended their agreement in which Capital One was the exclusive issuer of Walmart Consumer Credit Cards.

The press release said that cardholders could continue to use their cards until informed otherwise, and that Capital One will retain ownership and servicing of the credit card accounts.

They introduced the Capital One Walmart Rewards Credit Card Program in 2019.

In April 2023, Walmart sued Capital One, seeking to end the credit card partnership and alleging that the bank failed to live up to its customer care standards.

The retailer’s suit said the bank missed the mark in a number of “critical” customer care categories, such as failing to promptly post transaction information to cardholders’ accounts, and not delivering replacement cards within five days.

Reached by PYMNTS at the time the suit was filed, a Capital One spokesperson called the suit an attempt by Walmart to renegotiate its existing partnership or end the deal prematurely.

“These immaterial servicing issues were cured by Capital One pursuant to the terms of the agreement, without harm to customers, the program or Walmart,” the spokesperson said.

In March, a federal judge ruled that Walmart could end its credit card partnership with Capital One early because the bank did not provide the level of service required by their agreement.

The judge ruled that “repeated customer service failures” allowed Walmart to end the partnership.

At the time of the March ruling, a Capital One spokesperson provided PYMNTS with an emailed statement saying, “We disagree with the court’s ruling and we are evaluating our appeal rights.”

Two months later came the May announcement that the two companies ended their agreement.

PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024