myWalgreens Mastercard

Rewards by category

Our take

This card is built for households that fill prescriptions and shop at Walgreens on a regular basis. At Walgreens stores and Walgreens.com it earns 5% in Walgreens Cash on non-Walgreens-brand products and eligible pharmacy purchases such as prescriptions and immunizations, and 10% on Walgreens-branded items, with some exclusions. Beyond the chain, it pays 3x at grocery stores and a short list of health-and-wellness merchants — pet stores, salons, sporting goods and gyms. All of that comes with no annual fee, so light use costs you nothing to carry.

The catch is the currency. Rewards post as myWalgreens Cash, which you can only spend at Walgreens — it is not cash back. SwipeCaddy values it at 0.9 cents per point, which is why 3x works out to roughly 2.7% back rather than a full 3%. There is no signup bonus, and foreign purchases carry a 3% fee. If your Walgreens runs are rare, that balance can easily sit unused.

Treat it as a specialist rather than a daily driver. Outside its bonus categories the card earns 1x in a currency locked to one retailer, so pair it with a flat-rate cash-back card for everything else. Note that the 3x does not follow you to competing drugstores — at a CVS or Rite Aid the card earns 1x — so if you are not tied to Walgreens specifically, it is worth checking what ranks above it first.

The math

Run $600 a month of groceries through this card and you're earning about $194 a year at our conservative valuations. There's no annual fee to earn back — everything above the 1x base rate is pure upside.

Where it lands in our rankings: #1 for pet supplies · #1 for beauty & self-care · #3 for sporting goods

Store bonuses

• Walgreens5x

Key benefits

• No annual fee
• $0 fraud liability
• Free credit score access
• Use your card same day at Walgreens if approved

Common questions

Does myWalgreens Mastercard have an annual fee?

No — myWalgreens Mastercard has no annual fee.

What does myWalgreens Mastercard earn on groceries?

3x on groceries.

What rewards does myWalgreens Mastercard earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in myWalgreens Cash.

Can you redeem myWalgreens Cash for regular cash back?

No. Rewards on the myWalgreens Mastercard post as myWalgreens Cash, which is redeemable only at Walgreens — it never converts to cash in your bank account. That is why SwipeCaddy values each point at 0.9 cents when ranking cards. Before applying, make sure you shop at Walgreens often enough to spend what you earn.

Can I use the myWalgreens Mastercard outside Walgreens or abroad?

Yes. The card runs on the Mastercard network, so acceptance is not limited to Walgreens, and its rewards categories include grocery stores and a range of health-and-wellness merchants. Just note that foreign purchases carry a 3% transaction fee. One convenience: if you are approved, you can start using the card at Walgreens the same day.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.