WMT Walmart Inc

By AnnaMaria Andriotis and Liz Hoffman 

Walmart Inc. is talking to Capital One Financial Corp. about taking over its store credit card, according to people familiar with the matter.

The discussions, which are expected to wrap up in coming weeks, could end Synchrony Financial's nearly 20-year run as the exclusive issuer of Walmart cards.

Synchrony has been Walmart's exclusive credit-card issuer since 1999 and counts the partnership as one of its five biggest by revenue. Synchrony issues both a private-label card, which can only be used at Walmart's stores and website, and a co-branded card that is accepted almost everywhere.

This is the first time Walmart launched a formal request for bids from other card issuers, people familiar with the matter said. The retailer met earlier this year with executives from Capital One and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which has been exploring its own entry into credit cards, according to people familiar with the matter.

One option that Walmart has looked at is whether to keep its credit card that can only be used at its stores with Synchrony and move the co-branded card to Capital One, people familiar with the discussions said. Walmart's talks with Capital One were previously reported by Bloomberg News.

Losing Walmart would be a blow to Synchrony, which counts the retail giant among its five largest accounts. Walmart credit-card balances total around $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, accounting for 19% of Synchrony's retail card balances and 13% of its total balances, which also include retail installment loans and medical loans.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2018 15:10 ET (19:10 GMT)

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