[Live] Walgreens Launch Cobranded Credit Card

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• Too bad the only Walgreens around me closed because people were literally robbing the entire store...

• On the 3% for health and wellness spending:

  "According to Synchrony the following areas qualify as a healthcare or wellness expense: Vet, Ambulance Services, Medical, Dental, Ophthalmic and Hospital Equipment and Supplies, Drugs, Drug Proprietaries, and Druggist Sundries, Sports Apparel, Drug Stores, Bike Shops, Sporting Goods Stores Hearing Aids (Sales, Service and Supply), Prosthetic Orthopedic Goods, Prosthetic Devices, Pet Store, Barber and Beauty Shops, Counseling Services (Debt, Marriage and Personal), Massage Parlors, Health and Beauty Spas, Public Golf Courses, Membership Clubs (Sports, Recreation, Athletic), Country Clubs Private Golf Courses, Doctors and Physicians (Not Elsewhere Classified), Dentists and Orthodontists, Osteopaths, Chiropractors, Optometrists and Ophthalmologists, Opticians, Optical Goods and Eyeglasses, Podiatrists and Chiropodists, Nursing and Personal Care Facilities, Hospitals, Medical and Dental Laboratories and Medical Services and Health Practitioners (Not Elsewhere Classified)."

  Source: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/reviews/mywalgreens-credit-card/

  I doubt health insurance premiums would qualify for the 3%.

  • Massage parlor. 🤗

    • Robert Kraft and I go to the same place

    • Massage parlor 🤤

• The only time I step into a Walgreens or CVS is for VGCs. Every item they sell is horribly over priced and I don't see why people patronize them. A terrible card.

  • In my area they are good when topcashback has their 2.50 back offer stacked with some digital walgreens coupons for stuff you’d buy anyway. Biggest problem i’ve had is buying stuff to trigger coupons on $10+ orders and then items getting cancelled because they are out of stock. Agreed that it is annoying when online offers and store prices and offers are not on sync. Plus discover card 5% etc. but i will pick up small stuff like this as i have the luxury of time

    • Same here, they sent me something like $7 and $7 fake cash for buying $20 and $25, and they are both triggered with a single $25 purchase. Tried placing an order 3 times but they keep messing it up. It is one of those things where you have to a PhD first to get any benefit.
      CVS is the same garbage

• Can’t think of any card I would want less

• Walgreens Rewards a pain in the butt to use.

  When I first joined, I could use the entire amount.
  Now they restrict you to $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, $50
  If your purchase is $6.xx, you can only use $5. You can't use $1 and $5.

  • Yes this is happening to me and even the clerks can’t tell me why I can only use a portion of my rewards. Is this explained somewhere so I can use up all my reward money and be done with them?

  • I wish they get rid of their $10 minimum in-store pickup policy.

  • Agreed. But one plus is that you can now use and earn in the same transaction whereas before you couldn't. There's always $5 back on $25 coupons so I can use $5 and earn $5 plus at the same time. A small benefit, but a benefit nevertheless.

• Tough to justify a hard pull for a big-box pharmacy that routinely plays the high-low game.
  Goods are routinely overpriced. If you're a savvy couponer or shop after-holiday clearances then yes there are deals to be had.
  3%-5% drugstore cashback is easy to find on other cards.
  $10 minimum for free store pickup, unless the item qualifies for free ship-to-store. This as cashiers at my local Walgreen's are frequently idle, scrolling on their phones.
  Unless you really really like Wag's generics, it's a pass for me.

• Presumably too soon to know if this card is reported to CRAs & therefore counts toward Chase 5/24. I hope people will post data points as they become available.

  • Datapoint: Card is not appearing on my personal credit report.

    Might be because I didn't apply for this piece of crap, however.

  • It's a personal credit card, why wouldn't it be reported?

• Who is the issuer? Hope it's not Synchrony...

  • "The myWalgreens™ Mastercard is issued by Synchrony Bank pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated."

• Walgreens near me has a big sign "apply here for the walgreens credit cars" lol

• The Walgreens credit cards (one version that only gives rewards on Walgreen purchases, another that also gives rewards on out of Walgreens purchases) are active now. I looked but didn’t find an updated DOC post. Here is the link to the credit card page:

  https://www.walgreens.com/mywalgreens/cards/credit.jsp?BAN=SIGN&sitecode=WGIISENGAG#!

  The rewards percentages are decent:
  10% on Walgreens-branded stuff
  5% on everything else at Walgreens
  3% on Grocery
  3% on Health and Wellness (includes Medical bills, Counseling services, Spa and Salon appts, Pet Stores, Sporting goods stores, Gym memberships, etc)
  1% Everything else

  This might be the only credit card I’ve seen with 3% (or more) back on Medical bills/Counseling services, Spa and Salon appts, and Pet Stores.

  $25 Sign up bonus.

  ***However*** the issues with rewards redemption and expiration make this seem like a bad/risky/finicky CC option unless you already shop for non-prescription stuff (and redeem rewards) there regularly (at least every few months). It seems like they’re counting on a lot of people’s rewards expiring unused :/.

  The rewards:
  -Can’t be redeemed for cash
  -Can’t be used for prescriptions
  -Can only be redeemed when checking out at the register (and only $50 max per transaction).
  -*Expire 12 months after they’re earned.*
  -**Are completely forfeited after 6 months of inactivity** (inactivity definition is confusing to me, sounds like 6 months of having redeemed rewards? Quote and link below.)

  “ Walgreens Cash rewards expire 12 months after they are originally earned. If you have not used your Walgreens Cash rewards in a transaction for six consecutive calendar months, then your membership will be deemed inactive and all accumulated Walgreens Cash rewards will be forfeited.”

  Here is the link to the myWalgreens rewards program terms and conditions:

  https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/mywalgreens.jsp#compare-chart

  (Also, sorry for the double post. I edited my comment but it forced me to keep the original comment as is.)

  • so, given the general price inflation for non-RX items at Walgreens, this amounts to little more than a loyalty program on top of a loyalty program

  • That reward forfeiture is just the kind of stuff I hate seeing. The 3% rewards category is quite interesting.

  • Even if you can use the rewards, the entire store is overpriced so the effective earning rate is much lower than promoted.

    • Or, is it actually higher since you are earing 10% on higher prices 🤔🤔😅

    • never buy anything in person. always buy online for instore pickup for the best price, plus you can sometimes get 2% back on SB or mr rebates. i've had the occasional cashier price match the website in person, but it's person by person

      • It's policy to match prices to their website. If a cashier pushes back, I always ask for a manager. Usually it's because the cashier doesn't know and this way they will the next time.

        Walgreens is definitely overpriced but for the most part, it's the convenience.

  • Thanks for the analysis. I'll repost tomorrow.