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AmEx for Target: $400/week credit card ATM withdrawals for 1.3%+ in certain cities

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Old Feb 8, 2014, 2:22 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: weezl
please be aware the Target breach cards are currently on the black market, as always be aware of activity on all accounts

Purchase in store. Each store seems to have just one lane that has them on display (unlike the AMEX GC which are at most lanes). Package is larger than other gift cards, silver and red.

Not available in all states. Search here for possible locations

Note: Unlike AMEX's restriction on BB/Serve/Redbird where one person can only hold one of those, you can have an AFT (2, actually) while holding a BB, Serve, or Redbird

Need DL to purchase.
Max 1 purchase per ss# per day--this means one person can actually have 2 AFT cards, which is why there is a $5000 total limit for 2 cards (see below).
Max initial load $500 + $3 load fee.

May reload temp card as soon as verification of identity is complete, may take 48 hours. You can use an ATM with a temp card as soon as you're able to view your temp card PIN online. If you're unable to view your PIN online, you won't be able to use an ATM until you have the permanent card, which takes about two weeks.

Many stores now limit reloading to the service desk, and no longer at cashiers. The card must be swiped at a cash terminal to reload, not scanned! Ask cashiers to try if they don't seem to recognize the card. Ask if loading at service desk is a policy, it might just be a knee-jerk response from cashiers that don't know about the card. I have been told that a few times, "You need to go to the Service Desk," it has never been true. Say please and thank you.

Limits & Fees
Loading
Codes as purchase on all cards.
Load fee $3
Max $1000 per card in 24 hour period.
Max $5000 total for both cards per 28 day rolling period.
May load any card *until* balance is $2500 for 28 day period (not *up to*)

System will allow a $1000 load on a card with a $2000 balance so long as you are under $5000 for all cards over 28 day period. See below for optimal load sequence, $15/$5k a month after 1st month and $15k in 65 days for new cards.

Unload via ATM
Max $400/card/day (resets sometime in the wee hours of the morning)
First ATM w/d per month per card is free, based on 1st of the month (not rolling)+ any ATM owner fee.
Additional ATM w/d fee $3 + ATM fee.

When asked 'from account' choose 'checking.'

Possibly helpful link:
Free and Low-Cost ATMs

Unload by purchases
No fee. No cash back.

Additional information

Optimal load pattern for least number of $3 fees after first $500 load is $3k/$2k.
New accounts can load $15k in 65 days. 4 trips in a week for new cards, 3 in a week once a month after that.

Load always means load $1000. 28 day load total in parenthesis. 'Dropped' means that load is past the 28 day mark.


Day 1: Purchase card #1, load $500
Day 3: Purchase card #2, load $500; Load card #1 ($1500)
Day 5: load card #1 ($2500); load card #2 ($1500)
Day 7: load card #2 ($2500)
*********************************wait************
Day 29: ($2000)($2500) day 1 dropped
Day 31: ($1000)($2000) day 3 dropped
Day 32: load card #1 ($2000) ; load card #2 ($3000)
Day 33: ($1000)($2000) day 5 dropped
Day 34: load card #1 ($2000); load card #2 ($3000)
Day 35: ($2000) ($2000) day 7 dropped
Day 36: load card #1 ($3000), ($2000)
*********************************wait************
Day 61: load both cards, day 32 dropped
Day 63: load both cards
Day 65: load one card.

Repeat Loads waiting 29 days between loads, if you loaded both cards 29 days ago load both now, if you loaded one card, load one now. So next load date is 61+29= Day 90

FAQ

Q: Will this show up as a CA?
A: No, Target is not a financial institution.

Q: Even with xxxx cards?
A: Yes, no cards will be charged a CA.

Q: Can I load with Visa/MC/Amex Gift Cards?
A: Yes. Also the balance can be detected and drained if you ask to load more than the value on a prepaid it will just prompt you to give a second payment form. Great for draining random balances.

Q: How about Target gift cards?
A: The register prompts not to allow Target gift cards. They may not be hard coded, though.

Q: Will I get 5% off if I load with a Target Red card?
A: No. Sorry, I wish.

Q: Can I load multiple cards in one transaction?
A: Yes. Up to 3 cards can be loaded in one transaction, but each card will be charged $3.

Q: Why load multiple accounts in one transaction?
A: to avoid multiple $1003 transactions on same CC in minutes. This may trigger a fraud alert.

Q:Is there a max number of payment swipes?
A: Yes. Maximum swipes for split payments is 7, though other users have reported being able to swipe at least 10 gift cards for payment without problems.

Q: Any reason not to load multiple cards in one transaction?
A: Yes, when you have multiple small value gift cards to unload because of 7 swipe limit.

Q: The title says withdrawals are 1.3%, is that true?
A: No. Do the math. I'm not very good at math. Under 1.3% includes Costco ATM fees. It is not possible to edit a thread title, the fees are lower due to the ATM limit now being $400.

Q: What are the lowest possible fees with a fee-free ATM available?
A: For 2 cards, each loaded with $2.5K each over 2 months ($10K in total), you would pay $30 in loading fees (10 load fees of $3 each) and $63 in ATM fees (25 total withdrawals, with 1 free withdrawal per card each month, resulting in 21 ATM fees of $3 each).


Official fund loading from T&C

You may load funds to your Cards using your Funding Source until the Available Funds on any Card purchased by you equals $2,500 and on all card purchased by you equals $5,000... Not more than $1,000 may be loaded to any Card purchased by you in a 24 hour period using your Funding Source, not more than $5,000 may be loaded to all Cards purchased by you in any 28-day period using your Funding Source.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE IF YOU LOADED YOUR PREPAID CARD AT TARGET DURING THE CHRISTMAS SECURITY BREACH: It is important to have AMEX reissue your cards (just phone the number on the card and ask for a new card). Thieves have the numbers and pins and can drain your account at any time. AMEX does not appear to be using software to block suspicious activity, so they can drain it all. If you loaded your prepaid card at Target between November 27 and December 15, 2013, you are at significant risk of having your money stolen (several reported cases in April and May).
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AmEx for Target: $400/week credit card ATM withdrawals for 1.3%+ in certain cities

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Old Jul 9, 2014, 6:26 am
  #2146  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Washington D.C. via Sao Paulo via Houston via Washington D.C. via Boston via New York
Posts: 1,172
Walked into my local Targets to find barren racks...had one person check stock... -125 in inventory (or actually not) I asked them if that seemed like a problem and they ignored me and went on with their day...
macdonaldj2 is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 6:39 am
  #2147  
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 639
Originally Posted by macdonaldj2
Walked into my local Targets to find barren racks...had one person check stock... -125 in inventory (or actually not) I asked them if that seemed like a problem and they ignored me and went on with their day...
Funniest post of the day, for sure
member7777 is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 7:27 am
  #2148  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 466
Originally Posted by ftomasze
I guess the ATM W/D limit is a rolling 24 hours? I W/D $400 from each card last AM around 9am, tried to W/D about 5 minutes ago and it was a no-go.
If it is, that's new. I've W/D twice in less than 24 hours before.
Haven't loaded my AFT's yet this month, we'll see what happens...
Tuppins is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 8:47 am
  #2149  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 149
So there's no way of getting around the $3 per $400 due to ATM withdrawal fees, right?

I just need to find a good ATM that has minimal fees for a $400 pull now. So useless living in an area different from the vast majority of MSers
workaccounttoday is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 8:55 am
  #2150  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 138
Originally Posted by workaccounttoday
So there's no way of getting around the $3 per $400 due to ATM withdrawal fees, right?

I just need to find a good ATM that has minimal fees for a $400 pull now. So useless living in an area different from the vast majority of MSers
There's the option of two cards with one withdrawal a month each, remember, the first is always free.
skibum3d is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 10:13 am
  #2151  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 42
How long does ID verification take ?

I bought a card and loaded $500 on Sunday.

Still not verified.
sruly is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 10:14 am
  #2152  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 138
Originally Posted by sruly
How long does ID verification take ?

I bought a card and loaded $500 on Sunday.

Still not verified.
Lately it's been about 7-10 days.
skibum3d is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 10:29 am
  #2153  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 42
Originally Posted by skibum3d
Lately it's been about 7-10 days.
Oh wow !

Thanks
sruly is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 10:38 am
  #2154  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 42
Originally Posted by sruly
How long does ID verification take ?

I bought a card and loaded $500 on Sunday.

Still not verified.
I just called them and they said it usually take 48 hrs so he will look into it for me.

Came back and told me that verification was systematically declined and my temp card is now a Amex GC.

They scanned my license for ID and its the same address as all my Amex accounts.
sruly is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 10:42 am
  #2155  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 138
Originally Posted by sruly
I just called them and they said it usually take 48 hrs so he will look into it for me.

Came back and told me that verification was systematically declined and my temp card is now a Amex GC.

They scanned my license for ID and its the same address as all my Amex accounts.
Interesting. My GF bought her second AFT card Saturday June 28, and it was verified as of yesterday. I've got a few other (local) data-points that suggest the same timing. Perhaps your CS rep was misinformed? Though this does seem awfully authoritative to be made up.
skibum3d is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 12:08 pm
  #2156  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 149
Originally Posted by skibum3d
There's the option of two cards with one withdrawal a month each, remember, the first is always free.
That's a good point. If only you could transfer funds between two cards easily!

Even at a fee free ATM, which I don't think I'll be able to find, it would end up being a total of $9 spent for every $900 pulled out. I suppose if using the proper cash back cards it would still work out okay though.
workaccounttoday is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 2:21 pm
  #2157  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: DFW
Programs: Marriott Life Titanium, Hilton Diamond, United Silver, DL, IHG Plat, etc.
Posts: 2,888
Originally Posted by macdonaldj2
Walked into my local Targets to find barren racks...had one person check stock... -125 in inventory (or actually not) I asked them if that seemed like a problem and they ignored me and went on with their day...
Was in a Target in Irving, TX today and all of the Amex for Target racks were empty. I lucked out and found one among the regular Amex Gift cards in the electronics section.

I fear the door may be starting to swing close on this deal.
pmaddock is offline  
Old Jul 9, 2014, 2:31 pm
  #2158  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Down South, The Desert
Programs: Marriot Rewards, Southwest Rapid rewards, Emerald Club, Avis Preferred
Posts: 1,871
Originally Posted by workaccounttoday
That's a good point. If only you could transfer funds between two cards easily!

Even at a fee free ATM, which I don't think I'll be able to find, it would end up being a total of $9 spent for every $900 pulled out. I suppose if using the proper cash back cards it would still work out okay though.
Shouldn't you be pulling in $800 increments for a cost of 3 bucks per card?
TheDapperDon is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014, 7:37 am
  #2159  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: New York City
Programs: AA P; Marriott G; Hertz 5*; Club Carlson G; IHG P;
Posts: 84
My target doesn't accept AMEX GC for loading, is anyone else experiencing this too? Any ideas?
fenix8o0 is offline  
Old Jul 10, 2014, 7:48 am
  #2160  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 149
Is the REGISTER not accepting it? Or are the employees saying no?

Because the latter is misinformed employees usually, and the former is indeed a problem.
workaccounttoday is offline  


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