Apr 3, 2013, 11:44 am
Last edit by: markr33
Read the wiki before posting a question.
Check your BB load limits BEFORE asking in this thread about "tender not allowed" or any other errors.
Bluebird website. There's no need to buy a Bluebird kit in-store; sign-up free on the website.
The original FlyerTalk discussion thread is here: Wal-Mart, Amex take on banks with Bluebird debit card
Bluebird Load Limits:
*For online debit load, only use of bank-issued cards is allowed. The use of pre-paid debit cards (Netspend, Paypower, Univision, Paypal, etc.) and VGC/MGC/AGCs is not allowed. Your account will be flagged upon first/second attempt. If blocked, call Account Protection Services at 1-800-660-2454 to clear it (9am-8pm EST, Mon-Fri).
The day currently resets around midnight Eastern/11pm Central/10pm Mountain/9pm Pacific.
For online bill pay
Loading with debit card at Walmart
Self checkout does not work for loading.
Many Walmart stores are enforcing a rule against the use of gift cards when loading, even though the register and the MCE do not enforce. Do not make your prepaid debit cards visible. Show them a bank debit card if asked. Otherwise, you may be asked by management to never visit the MC again to load with gift cards.
Loads at register over $500 will sometimes trigger ID requirement. There is a limit of four swipes per transaction; this means your card plus three payments.
If your card doesn't say "debit" on the front, it isn't a debit card.
Please see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...bit-cards.html for additional information on using prepaid debit cards.
Training a WM cashier:
Error Messages:
DEBIT NOT AVAILABLE
Received when I used a card I thought I had activated but hadn't.
DEBIT NOT APPROVED
Received when the card's monthly load limit had been reached.
TENDER NOT ALLOWED
Card was incorrectly read, or wrong PIN entered .
HOST TIMEOUT
Connection problems. The GC may be drained but the transaction should reverse itself, and funds will become available again. Try again later.
UPdate Notice on Sept 15, 2014.
Some minor changes on the ATM limits and fees:
• Out-of-Network ATM Fees:
Beginning October 30, 2014, the fee for withdrawing funds using out-of-network ATMs will increase from $2.00 to $2.50. ATM operator fees may also apply.
• Free In-Network MoneyPass® ATMs:
Effective immediately, all Bluebird Customers can withdraw funds for free when using in-network MoneyPass ATMs. You can find one of the more than 24,000 MoneyPass ATMs below.
• ATM Withdrawal Limits Increase:
We have increased your daily ATM limit, so you can withdraw up to $750 per day. Your monthly ATM withdrawal limit will remain at $2,000.
-----
•If you use Wal-Mart Savings Catcher, you can earn double rewards by redeeming to your BlueBird account <== Doubling of savings catcher amounts ended sometime in the summer of 2015.
Check your BB load limits BEFORE asking in this thread about "tender not allowed" or any other errors.
Bluebird website. There's no need to buy a Bluebird kit in-store; sign-up free on the website.
The original FlyerTalk discussion thread is here: Wal-Mart, Amex take on banks with Bluebird debit card
Bluebird Load Limits:
- BB loading via VR or WM load: $2,500/day and $5,000 total per calendar month
- Online Debit Card Load* - $200/day and $1,000/month
- Checking/Savings Account - $2,000/month
- Checks - $2,000/day and $10,000/month
- ATM Withdrawals - $750/day and $2,000/month
*For online debit load, only use of bank-issued cards is allowed. The use of pre-paid debit cards (Netspend, Paypower, Univision, Paypal, etc.) and VGC/MGC/AGCs is not allowed. Your account will be flagged upon first/second attempt. If blocked, call Account Protection Services at 1-800-660-2454 to clear it (9am-8pm EST, Mon-Fri).
The day currently resets around midnight Eastern/11pm Central/10pm Mountain/9pm Pacific.
For online bill pay
- You can pay the credit card that you used to buy reloads
- Error 1302 means that you have 1 pending payment the same amount as the one you just submitted. For example, 1000 bill pay to sapphire preferred from Friday and then on Saturday you submit another bill pay for 1000 to sapphire preferred, you will get this error.
- Tip: if using online bill pay to the same place multiple times, vary your amounts by $0.01 to make it easier to track since your confirmation number does not match the tracking number on your credit card statement
Loading with debit card at Walmart
Self checkout does not work for loading.
Many Walmart stores are enforcing a rule against the use of gift cards when loading, even though the register and the MCE do not enforce. Do not make your prepaid debit cards visible. Show them a bank debit card if asked. Otherwise, you may be asked by management to never visit the MC again to load with gift cards.
Loads at register over $500 will sometimes trigger ID requirement. There is a limit of four swipes per transaction; this means your card plus three payments.
If your card doesn't say "debit" on the front, it isn't a debit card.
Please see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...bit-cards.html for additional information on using prepaid debit cards.
Training a WM cashier:
- If the WM cashier doesn't know how to load the card, advise them to enter "70" then press "action code".
- If you are using a temp card that doesn't have your name on it, you can swipe the card from your side of the terminal. The WM rep never has to touch any of your cards. The screen will say "enter account." That is your prompt to slide the card.
- The terminal will ask the WM employee if you are loading in multiples of $2000. Advise them to enter "no."
- Avoid saying gift card. Always refer to your card as a debit card.
Error Messages:
DEBIT NOT AVAILABLE
Received when I used a card I thought I had activated but hadn't.
DEBIT NOT APPROVED
Received when the card's monthly load limit had been reached.
TENDER NOT ALLOWED
Card was incorrectly read, or wrong PIN entered .
HOST TIMEOUT
Connection problems. The GC may be drained but the transaction should reverse itself, and funds will become available again. Try again later.
UPdate Notice on Sept 15, 2014.
Some minor changes on the ATM limits and fees:
• Out-of-Network ATM Fees:
Beginning October 30, 2014, the fee for withdrawing funds using out-of-network ATMs will increase from $2.00 to $2.50. ATM operator fees may also apply.
• Free In-Network MoneyPass® ATMs:
Effective immediately, all Bluebird Customers can withdraw funds for free when using in-network MoneyPass ATMs. You can find one of the more than 24,000 MoneyPass ATMs below.
• ATM Withdrawal Limits Increase:
We have increased your daily ATM limit, so you can withdraw up to $750 per day. Your monthly ATM withdrawal limit will remain at $2,000.
-----
•If you use Wal-Mart Savings Catcher, you can earn double rewards by redeeming to your BlueBird account <== Doubling of savings catcher amounts ended sometime in the summer of 2015.
Bluebird prepaid debit, now with FDIC insurance and paper checks (2013-2014)
Nov 21, 2014, 5:37 am
#6887
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 23
Dam that sucks. I cancelled Serve about a year ago because of that $1 charge. If I'm correct, that make me ineligible to go back to Serve correct?
Nov 21, 2014, 6:07 am
#6888
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
If you have NFC enabled smartphone connected to a TMo, AT&T or Verizon, register for Serve-Softcard for the higher limits of 1.5K for debit loads and another $1.5K for credit loads.
Nov 21, 2014, 6:12 am
#6890
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 23
ok thanks, I will look into that
Nov 21, 2014, 7:35 am
#6891
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Upstate
Programs: HH Diamond-IHG Plat-AA Gold
Posts: 215
I don't know if this is something but I've run into this problem twice this month. Every time I tried to load another transaction in the same card in the same day, it errors out. Anyone having this problem? Obviously I didn't hit my daily limit or monthly limit. I.e. I do a $1000 load and another load is declined...
I have definitely done 2 loads ($500 + $500) in a day this month, last on 11/13 & 11/14, by going to 2 different registers each time. I have not tried to load 2x since last week.
However, yesterday (11/20), I was informed by a trusted WM employee that store management had started telling cashiers "only one BB transaction for a maximum of $1000, per person, per day. No more 'I'd like to load $500', and then saying, 'Okay, now I'd like to load another $700'."
One load swipe. $1000 max.
The employee did not know if this is only a new store level rule, or if it came from corporate. However, I can't image BB loaders in my area are that much of a nuisance that the a store would even notice, let alone feel the need to limit activity.
Any other data points out there on this?
Nov 21, 2014, 8:25 am
#6892
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,207
Lots of similar if you read the thread. Its store based, not corporate, or at least not enforced. Most of my walmarts havent said a peep. Even one guy who told me that once at one wm, the next guy I got didnt say a peep at the same location. I feel it has more to do with cashier/manager comfort than anything else.
Nov 21, 2014, 10:10 am
#6893
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Upstate
Programs: HH Diamond-IHG Plat-AA Gold
Posts: 215
Lots of similar if you read the thread. Its store based, not corporate, or at least not enforced. Most of my walmarts havent said a peep. Even one guy who told me that once at one wm, the next guy I got didnt say a peep at the same location. I feel it has more to do with cashier/manager comfort than anything else.
I had read back at least 5 pages before posting and had only seen that one other mention of this specific type of limiting.
I certainly presumed this was only a store level policy as well. Thanks, at least, for providing your take on it.
Nov 21, 2014, 10:25 am
#6894
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 69
Curious happenings yesterday:
Loading BB card at a normal register, when she started the transaction, before even the BB card was swiped, the register popped up and said the transaction had to be completed at the service desk. This wasn't the employee saying this; she seemed surprised. I saw the message as well.
At the service desk, I was unable to load a Sunrise gift card. The load appeared to go through, without me even having to cancel and change payment, but then at the end it spat it back with a code 51 and a Not Authorized.
Separately, when buying $14.XX in regular merchandise and paying with a Visa credit card, after I swiped the pad came up asking for PIN, and I had to hit change payment, credit, no cashback to get my transaction to process as credit. With a real life credit card. I don't know if it's shoddy IT, the employee selecting debit (although according to them they only have one button for debit/credit), Wal-Mart trying to push all transactions to debit for lower interchange fees, or maybe it's just the majority of their customers use debit and on balance assuming all cards are debit is more efficient. Slightly annoying, though.
Loading BB card at a normal register, when she started the transaction, before even the BB card was swiped, the register popped up and said the transaction had to be completed at the service desk. This wasn't the employee saying this; she seemed surprised. I saw the message as well.
At the service desk, I was unable to load a Sunrise gift card. The load appeared to go through, without me even having to cancel and change payment, but then at the end it spat it back with a code 51 and a Not Authorized.
Separately, when buying $14.XX in regular merchandise and paying with a Visa credit card, after I swiped the pad came up asking for PIN, and I had to hit change payment, credit, no cashback to get my transaction to process as credit. With a real life credit card. I don't know if it's shoddy IT, the employee selecting debit (although according to them they only have one button for debit/credit), Wal-Mart trying to push all transactions to debit for lower interchange fees, or maybe it's just the majority of their customers use debit and on balance assuming all cards are debit is more efficient. Slightly annoying, though.
Last edited by AdamAlias; Nov 21, 2014 at 10:30 am
Nov 21, 2014, 11:56 am
#6895
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 12
I was going to write a BB check and mail it to pay the property tax.
Has anyone done this already? Any issues from the collector's side?
TIA
Has anyone done this already? Any issues from the collector's side?
TIA
Last edited by mile8mile; Nov 21, 2014 at 4:24 pm
Nov 21, 2014, 1:48 pm
#6896
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: ORD
Programs: American Airlines EXP, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 409
Nov 22, 2014, 9:18 am
#6897
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: AZ
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 200
Paid Maricopa County via BB check in April,2014 - sent check with the county payment slip and had no problems at all. Also paid Federal and State estimated taxes using BB checks and had no problem.
Nov 22, 2014, 9:43 am
#6898
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
What's the advantage of doing this, rather than just using BB to pay the credit card (or withdraw to bank) and paying tax via the usual bank account?
Nov 22, 2014, 10:24 am
#6899
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
For me, I have also tried paying property tax via Serve but in order to avoid a case of "lost"/unaccounted check payments, I did a B/P putting our tax collector as payee and sent it to my office address. Soon as I got the check, I went to the courthouse to pay. With this, I avoid those issues where payees say they did not receive payment when they actually did, but they were not sure whose account to credit it to. I've read a lot of those issues with landlords saying they did not get the checks when they've already cashed it.
Nov 22, 2014, 10:56 am
#6900
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Plat Hilton Gold, SPG Gold, Club Carl Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,002
I have used BB to pay both Dallas County and Tarrant County tax assessors without any issue.