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Bluebird prepaid debit, now with FDIC insurance and paper checks (2015)

Old May 27, 2015, 12:00 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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:
  • 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.
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Bluebird prepaid debit, now with FDIC insurance and paper checks (2015)

Old Sep 8, 2013, 12:01 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 15
Bluebird prepaid debit, now with FDIC insurance and paper checks (2015)

Hi all - I am a new arrival to the US (perm resident, got my SSN in May).

I tried to open a Bluebird account online and got an automatic "we can't verify your information message."

I called the help line and they just said try again a couple of times. In other words, they were no help at all as I kept getting the same message.

Any idea what's up, or a workaround? Could it be related to not having a US drivers license? It seems to make a point of saying make sure your name exactly matches your drivers license.

Thanks for any insights.
chckiwi is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2013, 1:02 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 207
My wife had the same issue. We couldn't get a Bluebird or an Amazon Payments account.
Amazon opened the account after we sent in a Drivers license copy and perhaps a utility bill or something like that.

For bluebird we waited several months and applied again and it went through. There must be a delay from when the SSN gets issued to when it makes it into their database.
cyclotron is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2013, 2:16 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IAD/DCA
Programs: Bunch of mid-tiers
Posts: 1,034
The only consistent reasons we've seen on this are:

1. Unable to verify ID. This includes unable to match drivers license, SSN, etc.

2. Prior "bad" relationship with AMEX. This includes having accounts closed, charge-offs, etc.

It sounds like you fit squarely in Bucket 1. You might try calling back again and specifically asking about ID requirements. I don't believe there is a requirement that you need a drivers license, but you do need a SSN they can verify. It may be a lag problem as noted. That said, BB customer service is not very helpful, so waiting and trying again in a month may be the only option. Sorry.
ctbarron is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2013, 2:43 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 207
Also use a different email address and username when reapplying. Otherwise it will give you an error.
cyclotron is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2013, 12:38 am
  #5  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 15
I thought I'd try opening amazon payments and sure enough, same issue. At least I'm not the only one

It seems weird if it's just SSN/name/DOB they're using. My SSN was issued 4 months ago, it's not like it was 4 days ago. It was issued to a different address than my current address, so maybe that's the issue.

Am trying to figure out how to get points for a $2K rent payment I need to make. That's my main aim currently.
chckiwi is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2013, 8:59 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 400
Curious if anyone opened their BB account by buying the $5 starter kit at WalMart. I wonder if this would help the OP and circumvent the "can't verify information" problem. Just a thought.
JWEMTX is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2013, 9:09 am
  #7  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 1,152
Originally Posted by JWEMTX
Curious if anyone opened their BB account by buying the $5 starter kit at WalMart. I wonder if this would help the OP and circumvent the "can't verify information" problem. Just a thought.
My understanding is it will not from the experience I had switching from Serve to BB.
vagrants is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2013, 11:22 pm
  #8  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 15
Still no workarounds re Bluebird but I sent an email to Amazon payments asking if I could send in i.d. to verify and they didn't reply but I got an email to say my account was now verified.

Another step in the right direction, after reading flyertalk for years but being unable to really participate in many of the opportunities from outside the US!

Really looking forward to not spending 64,000 QF points earned at $1/point and $hundreds in fuel surcharges to fly one way US > NZ!
chckiwi is offline  
Old Oct 8, 2013, 10:55 am
  #9  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: PHL
Posts: 10,060
My wife got this problem. She has long credit history, however, we just changed address. We got the "Unable to verify information", called BB & was told to re-register again. Now, we got the "you have serve account" which obviously she didn't have. We've called BB & transferred to Serve dept to verify, yet, they still can't solve this.

Is there any other way to solve this beyond waiting for several months?
9Benua is offline  
Old Oct 8, 2013, 11:50 am
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 321
happened for my wife too. ssn was more than a year old, still could not verify. try different email accounts. and i applied for couple of credit cards , waited for a month and repplaied for bb. no probs then.
RJ5929 is offline  
Old Oct 8, 2013, 12:07 pm
  #11  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinium
Posts: 1,329
chckiwi are you married to a US citizen/Permanent Resident? if the answer is yes, then ask her to add you as an authorized user of her credit card. Another option, get a DL and send a copy to Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.
fedechat is offline  
Old Oct 8, 2013, 1:11 pm
  #12  
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: PHL
Posts: 10,060
Originally Posted by RJ5929
happened for my wife too. ssn was more than a year old, still could not verify. try different email accounts. and i applied for couple of credit cards , waited for a month and repplaied for bb. no probs then.
Thank you for the data point, I guess I'll wait for next month.
9Benua is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2015, 9:23 am
  #13  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Boston
Posts: 8
Bluebird prepaid debit, now with FDIC insurance and paper checks (2015)

Does anybody know if you can load Bluebird at a Canadian Walmart? My searches have yielded nothing. Thank you.
xiaobao12 is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2015, 9:43 am
  #14  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 5,868
Originally Posted by gofarhaveacigar
My local walmart has started training their cashiers to only allow one load per customer (I used to be able to do 3-4 at a time, go to another cashier, etc). They don't limit the dollar amount, just the number of loads.

What's the process for doing a $1000 load using 2x$500 VGCs? Is it similar to Bill Pay, or simpler?
Actually, at my WM they do limit the dollar amount to $1000 per load. My WM will let me do that as many times as I want, though, in separate transactions. I've only ever done it 2x per card though (x2 cards).
Stgermainparis is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2015, 11:10 am
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4
Loading Sunrise 200 visa gc bought from Sears to BB

Anyone able to load Sunrise 200 visa GC bought from Sears to BB as of yesterday?

Originally Posted by ericdabbs
Sunrise VGCs are still good. Sears sells Sunrise VGCs and I used it to load Serve. I assume your plan is to buy VGCs from the neighborhood WM and then load them to BB.
adaptivesri is offline  

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