Cash or Debit only

This is interesting. I tried earlier this week - $500 max with $3.74 fee. Are you sure it was MVD, not BB or GB?

Well, BB is free to load at WM and, IIRC no fees on swipes - honestly, I forgot when I used BB to actually buy something. MVD - yes, .50 per transaction, $2.50 for Cash Advance. I thought that was one of the advertised advantages of BB - no fees per swipe.

What I do is I buy GC (I am trying to switch to MVD), load them to BB, and then use their online system or checks to pay people who won't take credit cards to get points. Mostly, for rent and energy company. So, I don't technically use my BB to buy anything either. All the money that is put in is spent within 24 hours for bills and possibly student loans (haven't done this yet).

The Chase GC have been great because you can specify how much you want, pay with your Chase CC, and load to BB with no transaction fee.

I was just unaware of the MVD transaction fee so that is why I did not know about it at the register. I wasn't trying to reload it, I was simply trying to put the $20 balance on the card into my BB account to pay a bill. I didn't know that I had to actually put $19.50 into BB because of the $.50 transaction fee.

I was just wondering if there was a reloadable debit card that did not have a transaction fee ($.50) each time I load the balance to BB. Otherwise, if there are none, the Chase gift cards seem the best way to go for now until they start charging an activation fee.

Been funding MVD with VRs with no probs. Using it to cash out at WM MC MO. Works fine.

No $.50 transaction fee for MO?

Yeah there still is. My WM MO purchases show up as normal purchases and only get $.50 rather than the CA fee. GB is a possible alternative for no transaction fees I think. Don't quote me on it.

This has been my experience too. When I look online at my transactions, it shows up as "Walmart" as if I bought something. At least we're not getting the CA fee.

It seems like they watch these cards though, so I will have to be careful. Maybe no more than $2k/month.

What is the max you guys can load to MVD? I can't find any way to do >$500 in 1 transaction - both WM and VR have this limit... What and where else to check? I would not mind to be able to load $1,000 to save on transaction fees.

Thanks.

You have to move very slowly with MVD. No loading/unloading right away. Load, let it stew for a while, then pick up a couple of MOs at WM. Leave a balance.

Steer clear of GB - read the last 10 pages of that thread for experiences. There have been reports that they are shutting down people after loading as little as $900.

Thanks for heads up. My report on GB is right above your post - I am already closed. MVD - I wasn't using it recently with free options available, but would like to go back there. At the same time, I can't say I value this company - I look at it the same way I looked at GB - it works - fine, they close my account - no biggie.

Are MOs (rather than CA) recommended just because of lower fees or their cardinals watch for CAs more than MOs?

Still looking for a way to reduce loading fees - ability to load more than $500 at a time would help.

Thanks.

I use it just for about $3-4k/month x 2 (two cards). It's not much, but it's something and it keeps some diversity in my arsenal.

Unloading via MO looks better that CA, I think. I originally was doing just CA until the May purge. Since then only MO. Plus I believe that MVD is now charging the stated fee for CA ($1.95).

Best path is this: VR ($3.95) then MO from WM ($0.70 MO fee+$0.50 MVD fee=$1.20). It winds up being around $0.01/cpm. Not great, but in the ballpark of AFT path when using a card with 1.25x or greater.

Using GC to load at WM only increases your cost unless you're getting GCs for free in which case your cost comes down only slightly ($3.74 for load fee+$1.20 for MO fee plus MVD transaction fee).

My plan is about the same, but I only have 1 card.

I see. Yes, they do charge $1.95 for CA, but then you can do $2,500 in one shot, vs. .70 + .70 + .35 = $1.85 to unload $2,500 via MOs.

Yes, Chase Gift Cards are free and this is what I am planning for MVD. I will also test Bill Pay at Walmart with MVD - does't look like a bad way to withdraw from MVD.

Thanks for your info.

MVD shutdown
 

all my 3 MVD cards got shutdown last week. Here is my pattern: load 1K and wait about one week, unload at WM. repeat for 3-4 times per month.

Wait. You are buying WM MCs and MOs? Im a bit confused by this statement...

MO at WM MC = money orders at Walmart Money Center

That must be most reasonable approach, but didn't work still...