Jun 22, 2013, 10:42 am
Last edit by: ChrisFlyer66
There is a new thread for 2017: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1819569-pin-available-now-visa-mc-prepaid-debit-cards-2017-a.html
Federal Reserve interpretation of Dodd-Frank financial reform regulations has resulted in Visa/MC gift cards getting PINs as of April 1, 2013.
Setting PINS
At Walmat, many MCs default to credit(and fail) and require pressing a button to change the payment type to debit. Here are the workarounds:
Old POS systems (monochrome black on green terminals and replacement color terminals):
1a. Screen shows "Insert or Swipe Card Quickly" with "Espanol" button in lower right (note if your screen blinks)
1b. Swipe card
1c. Screen shows "Waiting for cashier..." with with working animation in lower center and "Cancel" button in lower right
2. Press "Cancel" on the screen or red button on pad (if your screen blinks, do not hit button until after blink)
3. Press "ATM/DEBIT" from upper left
4. Press "No Cash Back"
5a. Enter PIN
5b. Screen shows "Waiting for cashier..."
6. Cashier hits blue (not green) Debit button on their side.
New POS systems (color terminal):
1. Swipe GC
2. Press "Change Payment" on screen (Yellow button on pad should also work, but screen works better for some. Timing is critical.)
3. Press "DEBIT"
4. Press "No Cash Back"
5. Enter PIN - Screen showing another 'Waiting for cashier...'.
6. Ask Cashier to hit blue color Debit button on the screen
When splitting transactions among multiple cards at a Walmart register, make sure to have the cashier hit the debit button on their physical keypad. If they hit the debit button on the touchscreen, it will not work. If your transaction got declined, try having the cashier hit 'Debit' using the physical keypad on the right of the screen.
As of 6/19/2014, Walmart rejects Debit attempts above $49.99 on all cards issued by InComm/ITC Financial Services, namely all Vanilla VISA and OneVanilla. There is no workaround.
Error Messages
DEBIT NOT AVAILABLE
Not enough funds available to cover whatever amount was typed in, or most likely NOT typed in.
DEBIT NOT APPROVED
Received when the card's monthly load limit had been reached.
HOST TIMEOUT
Connection problems. The GC may be drained but the transaction should reverse itself, and funds will become available again.
Federal Reserve interpretation of Dodd-Frank financial reform regulations has resulted in Visa/MC gift cards getting PINs as of April 1, 2013.
Setting PINS
- MetaBank VISA or Sunrise VISA -use the last four digits of the card number (or to set personal PIN call 888-524-1283)
- US Bank VISA and Mastercard - Newer cards come with a PIN printed on cardstock inside the package. To set/reset PIN, call 866-952-5653. One person reports: VISA that has pre-set PIN locks PIN on first use if not previously reset; always call to set PIN before use. If you forget to reset the pin and you can't unload the funds to your BB, call the toll free # and ask rep. to "reset" the card and they will do some magic and you should then be able to unload the funds at WM.
- Vanilla VISA and OneVanilla(not MyVanilla, etc) - selection of 4 digits on the first transaction becomes the PIN
At Walmat, many MCs default to credit(and fail) and require pressing a button to change the payment type to debit. Here are the workarounds:
Old POS systems (monochrome black on green terminals and replacement color terminals):
1a. Screen shows "Insert or Swipe Card Quickly" with "Espanol" button in lower right (note if your screen blinks)
1b. Swipe card
1c. Screen shows "Waiting for cashier..." with with working animation in lower center and "Cancel" button in lower right
2. Press "Cancel" on the screen or red button on pad (if your screen blinks, do not hit button until after blink)
3. Press "ATM/DEBIT" from upper left
4. Press "No Cash Back"
5a. Enter PIN
5b. Screen shows "Waiting for cashier..."
6. Cashier hits blue (not green) Debit button on their side.
New POS systems (color terminal):
1. Swipe GC
2. Press "Change Payment" on screen (Yellow button on pad should also work, but screen works better for some. Timing is critical.)
3. Press "DEBIT"
4. Press "No Cash Back"
5. Enter PIN - Screen showing another 'Waiting for cashier...'.
6. Ask Cashier to hit blue color Debit button on the screen
When splitting transactions among multiple cards at a Walmart register, make sure to have the cashier hit the debit button on their physical keypad. If they hit the debit button on the touchscreen, it will not work. If your transaction got declined, try having the cashier hit 'Debit' using the physical keypad on the right of the screen.
As of 6/19/2014, Walmart rejects Debit attempts above $49.99 on all cards issued by InComm/ITC Financial Services, namely all Vanilla VISA and OneVanilla. There is no workaround.
Error Messages
DEBIT NOT AVAILABLE
Not enough funds available to cover whatever amount was typed in, or most likely NOT typed in.
DEBIT NOT APPROVED
Received when the card's monthly load limit had been reached.
HOST TIMEOUT
Connection problems. The GC may be drained but the transaction should reverse itself, and funds will become available again.
PIN available now for Visa/MC prepaid debit cards(2013-2016).
Jan 25, 2014, 8:47 am
#3046
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Posts: 1,929
Yeah, just buy whisky, beer, milk, chicken, a prepaid Refill, or whatever at Target and swipe them all
Jan 26, 2014, 2:27 pm
#3047
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Western US
Programs: WN CP, WN A-List Preferred, AS MVPG 75k, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 554
My local CVS is now out of the OVs and gold packaging Vanilla Visas. In their place they've replaced them with a bunch of new kinds, mostly Christmas themed variables and ones in creme colored packaging. Any certain kinds I should avoid?
Jan 26, 2014, 9:27 pm
#3048
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: Delta silver, HH silver, IHG platinum, SPG gold, AMEX platinum
Posts: 400
Also don't forget to check near the registers or towards the back of the store in the 2nd gift card display. Sometimes there are some there too.
Jan 26, 2014, 9:33 pm
#3049
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul
Posts: 271
I must be lucky. Seems every major grocery store around here has a Visa/Mastercard Giftcard kiosk. Yesterday found out my favorite gas station carries unlimited number of Moneypaks payable with a credit card.
( I would caution people tho to read carefully because some giftcards don't allow pin #s so they won't work when buying MOs at Wally's )
( I would caution people tho to read carefully because some giftcards don't allow pin #s so they won't work when buying MOs at Wally's )
Jan 27, 2014, 12:29 am
#3050
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: DCA
Programs: US GP, *G, HHonors Gold, SPG
Posts: 141
Interesting encounter at Wally World today. Did 2 $500 swipes for a $999.30 MO, which were approved. When the clerk went to print the MO it turned out they were out of paper. This got me a bit nervous as the supervisor was unable to reverse the transaction. Eventually the manager came over and told the clerk just to cash me out. So the clerk counts out $1k in $20s in front of about 20 people. Managed to liquidate (for free!), but definitely a bit odd. This Wally isn't in the best neighborhood either. Ended up liquidating the other GCs at a Harris Teeter down the road.
Jan 27, 2014, 12:48 am
#3051
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,463
Interesting encounter at Wally World today. Did 2 $500 swipes for a $999.30 MO, which were approved. When the clerk went to print the MO it turned out they were out of paper. This got me a bit nervous as the supervisor was unable to reverse the transaction. Eventually the manager came over and told the clerk just to cash me out. So the clerk counts out $1k in $20s in front of about 20 people. Managed to liquidate (for free!), but definitely a bit odd. This Wally isn't in the best neighborhood either. Ended up liquidating the other GCs at a Harris Teeter down the road.
Jan 27, 2014, 1:14 am
#3052
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: DCA
Programs: US GP, *G, HHonors Gold, SPG
Posts: 141
Yeah, it was weird. I assume they were out of paper completely. Strange thing is when i asked when they would be doing MOs again the clerk said they didnt expect to soon. They also regularly tell me that BB is down, but when I insist on swiping it always works...
Jan 27, 2014, 7:28 am
#3053
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: All of them!
Posts: 322
Interesting encounter at Wally World today. Did 2 $500 swipes for a $999.30 MO, which were approved. When the clerk went to print the MO it turned out they were out of paper. This got me a bit nervous as the supervisor was unable to reverse the transaction. Eventually the manager came over and told the clerk just to cash me out. So the clerk counts out $1k in $20s in front of about 20 people. Managed to liquidate (for free!), but definitely a bit odd. This Wally isn't in the best neighborhood either. Ended up liquidating the other GCs at a Harris Teeter down the road.
I was back at that same WM again a month or two later and the same thing happened, only the cashier didn't realize that my receipt saying I received $1,000 in change meant my debit charges wouldn't be reversed and she was supposed to give me cash. I was initially told that it would go back to my card and they would refund me in cash if I returned to the store with my account statement to show the charge had not been refunded. Eventually got it sorted out after the manager got involved, and in this case they were able to refill the paper and ended up giving me a new MO that they entered in the computer as paid for with the cash that I was supposed to have been refunded.
Jan 27, 2014, 9:36 am
#3054
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
WM locally started giving me guff about having my name on the 'debit' cards and would not process them onto my BB, there are two that I know of with the MC however they are both down constantly...will it be the same with MO? I've been reading about Kroger MO as well, anyone have luck at Kroger?
Jan 27, 2014, 10:11 am
#3055
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 377
Thanks. I tried this with ATT (I have Uverse) and it works fine. However, ATT doesn't allow to pay in advance. However, you can pay your monthly bill using multiple gift cards. So, next month, I am going to pay my bill exclusively using my 30 odd gift cards.
Didn't know BJs allowed this. Does this work at the self-checkout counters? I prefer not going to a cashier for these things.
Didn't know BJs allowed this. Does this work at the self-checkout counters? I prefer not going to a cashier for these things.
Jan 28, 2014, 5:36 pm
#3056
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Down South, The Desert
Programs: Marriot Rewards, Southwest Rapid rewards, Emerald Club, Avis Preferred
Posts: 1,871
WM locally started giving me guff about having my name on the 'debit' cards and would not process them onto my BB, there are two that I know of with the MC however they are both down constantly...will it be the same with MO? I've been reading about Kroger MO as well, anyone have luck at Kroger?
Jan 31, 2014, 1:08 pm
#3058
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHL, maybe EWR
Programs: Plat IHG, Marriott Rewards Silver, CSP, Ink Bold, USDM, *Wood Gold, AA, Club Carl
Posts: 285
For those with spousal accounts how do you load GCs @ WM with a non MSer spouse?
I’d say about 20% of the time the clerk will look at the card before swiping on their register and if they saw Jane Doe and looked at me looking like a John Doe I’d imagine there would be an issue. Besides the one off times I’m asked for ID and BBs are compared to it.
I tried adding myself as a subaccount but the BB FAQ states subaccounts can’t add money.
I’d say about 20% of the time the clerk will look at the card before swiping on their register and if they saw Jane Doe and looked at me looking like a John Doe I’d imagine there would be an issue. Besides the one off times I’m asked for ID and BBs are compared to it.
I tried adding myself as a subaccount but the BB FAQ states subaccounts can’t add money.
Jan 31, 2014, 1:10 pm
#3059
Join Date: May 2011
Programs: US Airways Gold, Marriott Platinum, SW A List
Posts: 1,575
For those with spousal accounts how do you load GCs @ WM with a non MSer spouse?
I’d say about 20% of the time the clerk will look at the card before swiping on their register and if they saw Jane Doe and looked at me looking like a John Doe I’d imagine there would be an issue. Besides the one off times I’m asked for ID and BBs are compared to it.
I tried adding myself as a subaccount but the BB FAQ states subaccounts can’t add money.
I’d say about 20% of the time the clerk will look at the card before swiping on their register and if they saw Jane Doe and looked at me looking like a John Doe I’d imagine there would be an issue. Besides the one off times I’m asked for ID and BBs are compared to it.
I tried adding myself as a subaccount but the BB FAQ states subaccounts can’t add money.
Jan 31, 2014, 1:20 pm
#3060
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 44
Just came from WM and used 4 GCs. 2 to load my GoBank card and 2 to buy a MO. No questions asked.