Wal-Mart, Amex take on banks with Bluebird debit card
Oct 25, 2012, 8:16 pm
#676
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 79
Just went to the blue bird website ant it says they are changing the program as of December 12th 2012...They will be closing all current accounts...
www.bluebirdmoney.com
www.bluebirdmoney.com
Oct 25, 2012, 8:21 pm
#677
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,037
Just went to the blue bird website ant it says they are changing the program as of December 12th 2012...They will be closing all current accounts...
www.bluebirdmoney.com
www.bluebirdmoney.com
http://www.bluebird.com
which IS the new program.
Oct 25, 2012, 8:28 pm
#678
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,173
re
So wally's didn't work, they got online and saw where it said cash or debit card. I shrugged, pulled up frequent miler's blog and showed it to them and said Amex is lying to a lot of people (ok, just kidding, i just left).
Prior to this, i went to OD for some bean hunting. Only four left on the rack, uh oh. Grabbed three, walked up, they had to call over a manager. I had my ID out ready, knowing they would ask for it. I started chatting up the manager about it, she said they are having to check a lot of things to see who is buying them. I made the comment that I understood as there is probably a lot of credit card fraud with buying these. She then goes on to say it really has nothing to do with OD, but with the bean company themselves. They are now required to have a manager double check the information and ID. She said in about 30 mins after the purchase i'm making, she will get a call from the company asking if a manager verified the information and compared ID to credit card. She said it was pretty crazy how far they were going, but she did say they sell a lot of them. I inquired about them being restocked soon and didn't really get much of an answer from her.
Anyway, loaded the BB just fine, now calling BB to find out something that will help me pay a bill, but how i pay it might be of even greater interest to lots of people on this board. I'm calling for a legitimate purpose, so no flaming about calling.
Edit: Been on hold for 22 mins, dang, are all of you calling?
Prior to this, i went to OD for some bean hunting. Only four left on the rack, uh oh. Grabbed three, walked up, they had to call over a manager. I had my ID out ready, knowing they would ask for it. I started chatting up the manager about it, she said they are having to check a lot of things to see who is buying them. I made the comment that I understood as there is probably a lot of credit card fraud with buying these. She then goes on to say it really has nothing to do with OD, but with the bean company themselves. They are now required to have a manager double check the information and ID. She said in about 30 mins after the purchase i'm making, she will get a call from the company asking if a manager verified the information and compared ID to credit card. She said it was pretty crazy how far they were going, but she did say they sell a lot of them. I inquired about them being restocked soon and didn't really get much of an answer from her.
Anyway, loaded the BB just fine, now calling BB to find out something that will help me pay a bill, but how i pay it might be of even greater interest to lots of people on this board. I'm calling for a legitimate purpose, so no flaming about calling.
Edit: Been on hold for 22 mins, dang, are all of you calling?
It is the only store near me, though they do have a few more in Fort Worth, there is no way I can do 10k in spend on a new ink without beans.
Oct 25, 2012, 8:55 pm
#679
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Denver, CO
Programs: Mileage Plus, AAdvantage, Aeroplan, Southwest
Posts: 64
Well, I'm a little late chiming in here, but I successfully went "bean hunting" and had no problems loading the Bluebird card. The only thing left to figure out is how many "beans" I can buy in a month on my Ink without upsetting Chase.
Oct 25, 2012, 9:53 pm
#680
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,256
...i went to OD for some bean hunting. Only four left on the rack, uh oh. Grabbed three, walked up, they had to call over a manager. I had my ID out ready, knowing they would ask for it. I started chatting up the manager about it, she said they are having to check a lot of things to see who is buying them. I made the comment that I understood as there is probably a lot of credit card fraud with buying these. She then goes on to say it really has nothing to do with OD, but with the bean company themselves. They are now required to have a manager double check the information and ID. She said in about 30 mins after the purchase i'm making, she will get a call from the company asking if a manager verified the information and compared ID to credit card. She said it was pretty crazy how far they were going, but she did say they sell a lot of them....
I'm reading all sorts of different experiences that people are having with this. I think the acronym YMMV has never been more true.
Oct 25, 2012, 10:01 pm
#681
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DFW
Posts: 1,145
you didn't go the store on Denton hywy did you...I scouted it and saw only 4 left on the rack...figured I might as well apply for ink and join the fun.
It is the only store near me, though they do have a few more in Fort Worth, there is no way I can do 10k in spend on a new ink without beans.
It is the only store near me, though they do have a few more in Fort Worth, there is no way I can do 10k in spend on a new ink without beans.
I've seen success at walgreens on here, but never tried yet for the beans there. Plenty of those in the area.
Oct 25, 2012, 10:21 pm
#682
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: DL DM Hub Captive, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, PC Plat, and other stuff.
Posts: 904
Some data points:
I loaded $1000 via Van Reload at 3pm today.
I loaded another $1000 via Van Reload at 1215am (just past midnight). In both instances, I went ahead and tried to load an additional $500 (to go over the $1000 daily limit), and the error message kicked in.
So...unlike the Amex Prepaid card, which won't allow you to load again in less than 24 hours, the Bluebird max load of $1000/day is based on a calendar day, not 24 hours.
Also, I loaded a mixture of OD reload cards and Walgreen's reload cards. The reload cards are slightly different - OD cards have a bar code on the bottom, and Walgreen's reload cards have a magnetic strip, as well as a green background where the 10 digit secret code is printed. Both cards reloaded without a problem.
I loaded $1000 via Van Reload at 3pm today.
I loaded another $1000 via Van Reload at 1215am (just past midnight). In both instances, I went ahead and tried to load an additional $500 (to go over the $1000 daily limit), and the error message kicked in.
So...unlike the Amex Prepaid card, which won't allow you to load again in less than 24 hours, the Bluebird max load of $1000/day is based on a calendar day, not 24 hours.
Also, I loaded a mixture of OD reload cards and Walgreen's reload cards. The reload cards are slightly different - OD cards have a bar code on the bottom, and Walgreen's reload cards have a magnetic strip, as well as a green background where the 10 digit secret code is printed. Both cards reloaded without a problem.
Oct 25, 2012, 10:23 pm
#683
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: SFO
Programs: Starwood Gold, US Air Gold
Posts: 69
As luck would have it, I visited an OD today and noticed they had some of these sought-after cards. So I took one to the register, handed it to the cashier and said I wanted to put $500 on it. He punched his buttons, told me to swipe my credit card, I did, signed electronically, he thanked me and that was it. He never even looked at my credit card, never mind my ID - manager's approval?
Oct 25, 2012, 11:50 pm
#684
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 994
anyone have a sample check of what it looks like? once a payment is made, can you get a PDF of what the recipient will receive? I made insurance payment in which i manually entered address along w/ memo since it wouldn't take it via the automatic electronic transfer.
Oct 25, 2012, 11:56 pm
#685
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: MAD
Programs: DL, UA, AA, BA, Marriott
Posts: 599
Its only been out like a week, give them a couple weeks to work out some of the kinks. I still haven't even received my cards.
So far as I'm concerned, as long as I can make free ATM withdraws at walmart I'm happy.
So far as I'm concerned, as long as I can make free ATM withdraws at walmart I'm happy.
Oct 26, 2012, 8:17 am
#686
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 74
Has anyone used bluebird to pay mortgage through citi or Wells Fargo? Or ally auto?
Oct 26, 2012, 8:20 am
#687
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
FYI - Check was "sent" on 10/19 and it arrived yesterday, 10/25 - this was to a manual entry payee
Oct 26, 2012, 8:27 am
#688
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: In The Cockpit, Left Seat
Programs: AA, UA, HH, SPG
Posts: 78
This service is just like the online bill pay services offered by just about every bank and CU in the country and has proven to be 100% reliable. Just make sure you double check your information, including account numbers before submitting for payment. If you are manually entering an address, ie: writing a virtual check, allow up to a week for processing but there are some that may still be transmitted via ACH
Oct 26, 2012, 8:28 am
#689
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
This service is just like the online bill pay services offered by just about every bank and CU in the country and has proven to be 100% reliable. Just make sure you double check your information, including account numbers before submitting for payment. If you are manually entering an address, ie: writing a virtual check, allow up to a week for processing but there are some that may still be transmitted via ACH
Oct 26, 2012, 9:01 am
#690
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 74
thanks for the info guys. I guess I'm late getting in on this I just found out about this yesterday. So is anybody already paying all their mortgages and everything through this service? I'm going to get some vanilla cards today