Walmart’s OnePay Launches a Fee-Free Builder Card Designed for Credit-Building Consumers

OnePay is launching a Builder Card, a secured Mastercard with no security deposit, no interest charge, and no monthly or annual fees, keeping with the low-cost Walmart tradition.

Consumer fintech OnePay acts as a digital wallet for in-store and online shopping at the popular retailer Walmart. Banking services are provided by Coastal Community Bank and Lead Bank.

The OnePay Builder Card replaces the OnePay debit card previously used by Walmart shoppers. Unlike other secured credit cards, the Builder Card does not require a credit check.

The Builder Card is integrated into the OnePay app and connected to a customer’s cash account. OnePay customers make purchases based on their available spend balance, and funds are automatically set aside to cover those transactions, according to the OnePay website.

Here’s how it works. Once a purchase is made with the Builder Card, the amount of the purchase is moved from the customer’s spend balance to a lockbox subaccount. Funds in the lockbox are no longer available for spending. 

Builder Card payments can be handled automatically helping customers avoid missed payments. By turning on automatic payments, funds in the lockbox can be used to automatically pay off the Builder Card balance. Customers may also make manual payments using lockbox funds or using an external bank account. 

OnePay reports a customer’s Builder Card’s payment activity to each of the three major credit bureaus, so customers with consistent, on-time payment histories should see their credit scores improve over time.

Builder Card customers missing their debit cards are in luck. They also receive a virtual debit card that can be used for virtual payments such as Apple Pay or when making peer-to-peer payments.

But these debit card transactions won’t help a customer’s credit score because OnePay doesn’t report debit transactions to the major credit bureaus. To improve credit, a customer needs to make on-time payments with their Builder Card secured Mastercard.

To sum up, the Builder Card does not charge annual fees or monthly fees and no interest is charged. But there is an inactivity fee to worry about. 

There is a one–time $12 inactivity fee from OnePay. This fee gets applied if there are no transfers in or out of the account for 60 consecutive days within the first six months of a card purchase. 

How Does OnePay Builder Card compare to other secured cards? The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Rewards has no annual fee and offers 1.5% cash back on every purchase. But it also comes with a $200 minimum security deposit. 

The Capital One Platinum Secured Card has no annual fee. Customers open the account by making a $49, $99, or $200 refundable security deposit,

While other secured card issuers promote rewards, the OnePay Builder Card likes to emphasize its lack of fees, namely how the Builder Card charges no monthly or annual fees. 

But its the lack of a security deposit that actually makes the Builder Card stand out from other secured cards. In addition, secured cards typically charge high interest rates and the Builder Card charges no interest.

Here’s another key difference. Some secured cards review accounts for possible graduation or deposit return after a specified time period. Discover, for example, says it begins automatic reviews after seven months. There is no information on the OnePay website about moving to an unsecured credit card. 

The OnePay Builder Card is different from other secured cards in that it doesn’t charge interest, and it doesn’t require a security deposit. 

Instead, card purchases are moved from the customers’ spend balances to lockbox subaccounts, and the funds in these lockbox accounts are used to pay off any Builder Card balances.

The Builder Card reports customer payment history to each of the three major credit bureaus, and making on-time payments with the Builder Card will improve a cardholder’s credit score over time.