Originally Posted by
furymoo
thaks for sharing, hmm interesting how u able still swipe at 499 after locking up the swipe, i was not able to do 16 or 40 at the small retail shop after 24 hours later locking up initial 500 load/mo purchase.
I think you misunderstood me. If i lock up a card, I get a replacement. Then, I swipe the replacement at 499 since I don't want to deal with another lockup.
Originally Posted by
furymoo
may i ask what kinda vgc path/incomm do you purchase other than simon's gc and exp year ?
Path/InComm? You're confusing things. Pathward is a bank, as are Sunrise, MetaBank and Bancorp. Those are that main players holding the funds behind gift cards. However, they use transaction processors, InComm and BNH are the only two processors I know of. I don't subscribe to the belief that the bank makes much difference. Seen too many contradicting DPs about this bank or that bank, and the same is true about the exp year.
From my experience, cards "serviced by
InComm" are the good ones. Right up until the XMas holiday season, they just worked everywhere. Now, there's a bit of a split. They ones you buy in physical outlets (WM, Grocery, Drug Stores, Etc.) all seem to need to be run at $499 a swipe, unless you happen to get a really old one. The ones you buy online still seem to work for $500/swipe.
Cards "serviced by Black Hawk Network" are the problem cards. How and where they work seems to be dependent on where you bought them. I'm not going to go into detail about that, but you can search for posts from me to learn everything I know, because I share most of what I learn openly.
So, InComm are good and that's what Simon mall sells, both inside the malls
and online You can also get InComm from
VanillaGift,
TheGiftCardShop.com and
IncommIncentives.com. However, you need to be a business owner and be approved for IncomIncentives. Simon online requires approval too, but you don't have to be a business owner.
BHN are what you find in office stores, on GiftCardMall.com (recently rebranded to
GiftCards.com) and probably plenty of other places. You can always tell if you're buying a BHN or InComm by reading the back of the package before you buy. When in doubt, read the thing. BHNs are a PITA.