May 27, 2015, 12:00 am
Last edit by: iflyjetz
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 discussion. The previous 2013- 2014 megathread.
For information on switching from BB to Serve, see the Serve thread wiki.
Bluebird Load Limits:
The cash load limit for a temp card is $1,500 total.
*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.
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 discussion. The previous 2013- 2014 megathread.
For information on switching from BB to Serve, see the Serve thread wiki.
Bluebird Load Limits:
- Cash loading via VR or WM load: $2,500/day and $5,000 total per calendar month
- Cash loading up to $1999.99/day at Walmart registers (tested by PedroNY in Post #525 and showed to not be enforced. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1501215-bluebird-prepaid-debit-now-fdic-insurance-paper-checks-2015-a-35.html#post25611848 )
- 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
The cash load limit for a temp card is $1,500 total.
*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.
Bluebird prepaid debit, now with FDIC insurance and paper checks (2015)
Sep 26, 2015, 6:58 pm
#421
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,837
Bought 5x500 SMGC yesterday. Did some travel around NNJ to see if I would have problems loading them anywhere. Mostly good to go, I was surprised by the one WM that refused me.
WM ITC Mount Olive NJ - (WM type: Whisky Tango) no issues, loaded 1x500 at Money Center. Cashier: Young Hispanic Female. This WM has no Kate.
WM Secaucus NJ - (WM type: Ethnic) asked "Is this a Gift Card?" Replied "No It's a debit". Loaded 1x500 at the Money center. Cashier: Older White female. This WM has a Kate that was OOS.
WM Kearny NJ - (WM type: Hoodrat/Ethnic) Money center cashier (Heavyset middle age Black female) would not load bluebird with SMGC. Asked to see SMGC and stated "they" told us not to load gift cards. I didn't ask who they were or try to argue. I just left. This WM has a Kate that was OOS.
WM Ledgewood NJ - (WM type: Whiskey Tango) Loaded 1x500 at Money Center (Middle age hispanic female) and 1x500 at cashier (older asian female. I bought some deodorant and k-cups lol). This WM has no Kate.
WM Hackettstown - (WM type - Whiskey Tango). Loaded 1x500 at money Center (Middle aged white female). This WM has no Kate.
FYI. YMMV.
WM ITC Mount Olive NJ - (WM type: Whisky Tango) no issues, loaded 1x500 at Money Center. Cashier: Young Hispanic Female. This WM has no Kate.
WM Secaucus NJ - (WM type: Ethnic) asked "Is this a Gift Card?" Replied "No It's a debit". Loaded 1x500 at the Money center. Cashier: Older White female. This WM has a Kate that was OOS.
WM Kearny NJ - (WM type: Hoodrat/Ethnic) Money center cashier (Heavyset middle age Black female) would not load bluebird with SMGC. Asked to see SMGC and stated "they" told us not to load gift cards. I didn't ask who they were or try to argue. I just left. This WM has a Kate that was OOS.
WM Ledgewood NJ - (WM type: Whiskey Tango) Loaded 1x500 at Money Center (Middle age hispanic female) and 1x500 at cashier (older asian female. I bought some deodorant and k-cups lol). This WM has no Kate.
WM Hackettstown - (WM type - Whiskey Tango). Loaded 1x500 at money Center (Middle aged white female). This WM has no Kate.
FYI. YMMV.
I very rarely load BB at the MC unless the csr has loaded me at a regular checkout lane.
Sep 28, 2015, 10:28 am
#422
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 159
Anyone load today (9/28) and experience issues? We're younprompted for the new cash back option or not?
Sep 28, 2015, 1:35 pm
#423
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 146
I bought cards last friday 9/25 and loaded onto BB. Was asked the same thing, but just no and moved on. Not sure exactly what that means, if they are updating their system or not. I was using VGC is that helps.
Sep 30, 2015, 4:23 pm
#424
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EWR
Posts: 884
Did the terms change? I don't see the $2,000 a month ATM limit listed on the Bluebird site anymore. I haven't tried yet to see.
Oct 12, 2015, 10:36 am
#425
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,423
Here's some trivia for you: you cannot load a Bluebird card in Vermont. It's illegal!
Of course, I found this out by trying. According to a seemingly-knowledgeable cashier, reloading a debit card is illegal in the state. Must be some bizarro consumer-protection law.
Remember this the next time you get a hard time at YOUR local Walmart. Things can always be worse.
Of course, I found this out by trying. According to a seemingly-knowledgeable cashier, reloading a debit card is illegal in the state. Must be some bizarro consumer-protection law.
Remember this the next time you get a hard time at YOUR local Walmart. Things can always be worse.
Oct 12, 2015, 10:41 am
#426
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Colorado
Programs: Alaska, Shell VC, Wyndham VC, Starwood, RCI, II--I bought it on eBay!
Posts: 159
Our two local Kates work fine but anything can change in an instant. We feel lucky to have no issues at all at WM so far.
Oct 12, 2015, 1:46 pm
#427
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,784
Is there anyone here that has already changed back from RB to BB to shed some light on how to go about that? Maybe a thread or post that address this that can be linked to here? TIA
Oct 12, 2015, 2:58 pm
#428
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 320
At my two local WM in NoVA couldn't find the KATEs and had to go to CS. They only allowed me to do $500 on a gift card even when i called it a debit card, tried slight of hand but she caught me and said she wanted to see the other card. She let me do $500 but not the $1k i was hoping for. Onto another WM.
Oct 12, 2015, 3:12 pm
#429
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: LAC
Programs: Regal Crown Club
Posts: 488
Well consider yourself lucky it lasted so long. Only 1x $500 load per day has been the norm here for 2 months already - no matter what card is used...
Oct 13, 2015, 12:23 pm
#430
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Philadelphia
Programs: HH Diamond, IHG Plat, SPG & Marriott Gold, CC Silver
Posts: 541
I haven't read this thread for over a year, as we changed all our BB accounts to RB. But as of today, it seems RB has gone cash only. Too early to know for certain, but most likely true.
Is there anyone here that has already changed back from RB to BB to shed some light on how to go about that? Maybe a thread or post that address this that can be linked to here? TIA
Is there anyone here that has already changed back from RB to BB to shed some light on how to go about that? Maybe a thread or post that address this that can be linked to here? TIA
Oct 14, 2015, 8:32 am
#432
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: HOU, IAH
Posts: 194
Almost 3 years with BB and now have my first real issue. SO's account was hacked Monday when he was online with BillPay. I logged in next morning and 2 bills were reversed "Canceled Successfully" and a cash transfer made to an individual, leaving $0.41 in the account.
1. Help line has had minor improvement since my last call in February. Call was answered promptly, although still by foreign CSR. He still had a script to follow which resulted in unnecessary steps to get to the heart of the matter.
2. Since it's AmEx, they will promptly redeposit the funds (24-48 hrs). This is both good and bad. I'm glad the funds are returned but I also know they'll just chalk it up to fraud and not really go after the #$*%$ scum who did this. We all pay in the end.
3. SO left the account open in our screen, but it should have timed out after a few minutes. So either the hacker was extremely lucky to be trolling at just the right time, or the time out did not occur. SO has been counseled to close out screen ASAP upon transaction completion. Don't know if it would have made a difference, but good practice nonetheless.
Stay alert folks...
1. Help line has had minor improvement since my last call in February. Call was answered promptly, although still by foreign CSR. He still had a script to follow which resulted in unnecessary steps to get to the heart of the matter.
2. Since it's AmEx, they will promptly redeposit the funds (24-48 hrs). This is both good and bad. I'm glad the funds are returned but I also know they'll just chalk it up to fraud and not really go after the #$*%$ scum who did this. We all pay in the end.
3. SO left the account open in our screen, but it should have timed out after a few minutes. So either the hacker was extremely lucky to be trolling at just the right time, or the time out did not occur. SO has been counseled to close out screen ASAP upon transaction completion. Don't know if it would have made a difference, but good practice nonetheless.
Stay alert folks...
Oct 14, 2015, 8:40 am
#433
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Colorado
Programs: Alaska, Shell VC, Wyndham VC, Starwood, RCI, II--I bought it on eBay!
Posts: 159
3. SO left the account open in our screen, but it should have timed out after a few minutes. So either the hacker was extremely lucky to be trolling at just the right time, or the time out did not occur. SO has been counseled to close out screen ASAP upon transaction completion. Don't know if it would have made a difference, but good practice nonetheless.
Oct 14, 2015, 8:43 am
#434
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: HOU, IAH
Posts: 194
This was on our home secure network. I'm hoping an extremely savvy FT'er has an idea of how this occurred, because right now I'm continuously checking all my online accounts linked to the BB through billpay to ensure he didn't mine the info to access them,
Of course we immediately changed all PWs and PINs.
Of course we immediately changed all PWs and PINs.
Oct 14, 2015, 9:03 am
#435
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 31
This was on our home secure network. I'm hoping an extremely savvy FT'er has an idea of how this occurred, because right now I'm continuously checking all my online accounts linked to the BB through billpay to ensure he didn't mine the info to access them,
Of course we immediately changed all PWs and PINs.
Of course we immediately changed all PWs and PINs.
i like to keep a at LEAST my email and bank account passwords different. but optimally all passwords should be something different for every login you have,