Petco Pay Mastercard Credit Card

Rewards by category

Our take

The Petco Pay Mastercard Credit Card is built for one household type: people who already spend real money at Petco. Through the Petco Pals Rewards program you earn 2 Vital Care points per dollar at Petco stores and petco.com, which works out to roughly 6% back in Petco store credit. There is no annual fee, and enrolled cardholders also earn 2x on groceries.

The catch is that rewards are locked to Petco. Points redeem only there — 167 points convert to a $5 Pals Reward — so if your pet spending drifts to another store, the balance has nowhere to go. That is why SwipeCaddy's ranking values each point at a conservative 0.8 cents. Everywhere outside Petco the card earns at a rate roughly equivalent to 1%, still paid in Petco credit, and foreign purchases add a 3% fee.

Treat it as a bonus card, not a wallet anchor. Use it at Petco after the free Pals Rewards enrollment, let a flat-rate cash-back card cover everything else, and note that new applicants can be approved for the store-only Petco Pay card instead of the Mastercard version. The 20% first-purchase discount and the $25 Vital Care Rewards for $500 spent outside Petco in the first 90 days sweeten the first year.

The math

Run $600 a month of groceries through this card and you're earning about $115 a year at our conservative valuations. There's no annual fee to earn back — everything above the 1x base rate is pure upside.

Store bonuses

• Petco6x

Key benefits

• 20% off your first purchase as a new cardholder
• $25 Vital Care Rewards after $500 spent outside Petco in first 90 days
• Extended 1-year expiration on Vital Care points and rewards
• Donation to Petco Love with every purchase

Common questions

Does Petco Pay Mastercard Credit Card have an annual fee?

No — Petco Pay Mastercard Credit Card has no annual fee.

What does Petco Pay Mastercard Credit Card earn on groceries?

2x on groceries (enrollment required).

What rewards does Petco Pay Mastercard Credit Card earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in Petco Pals Rewards.

Can I redeem Petco Pay Mastercard points anywhere besides Petco?

No. Rewards accrue as Vital Care points that are redeemable only at Petco, where 167 points convert to a $5 Pals Reward. Card purchases do extend point and reward expiration to one year. If you want rewards you can spend anywhere, a general cash-back card is the better tool; keep this one strictly for Petco runs.

Do Petco purchases on a promotional credit plan earn points?

No — purchases placed on promotional credit plans do not earn Vital Care points, so financing a big purchase means giving up the roughly 6% back you would otherwise collect at Petco. Earning also requires free Pals Rewards enrollment, so if the points matter to you, run big purchases as regular charges rather than on a financing plan.

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.