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The most recent huge wave of shutdowns occurred in May 2019.
Most accounts used for MS were shut down on Jan 8, 2016. Another wave of shutdowns occurred on March 4, 2016. Using Bluebird for MS is very likely to lead to account closure. There is no clear pattern as to how to avoid the account shut-downs. Some of the dormant accounts were not shut down.
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.
For information on switching from BB to Serve, see the Serve thread wiki.
Bluebird Load Limits:
Cash loading: $2,500 ($1,999.99 at Walmart) per card per day; $9,000 per day all BB cards combined; $5,000 total per calendar month each card; $10,000 calendar month and $100,000 per year all BB cards combined for each SSN.
Direct Deposit: $100,000 per year
Online Debit Card Load* - $200/day and $1,000/month
Checking/Savings Account - $2,000/month
Mobile Check Capture by Ingo® Money - $5,000/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.
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.
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.
Visa BB at MC. Not a single cashier at any of my 5+ nearby stores is willing to do a load at regular register.
Thanks. I should consider myself lucky. My Wally still allows BB load at the regular terminals, but very few people know it. So I have to time my trip per their schedule. So things are not easy, but still works for now.
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 5,677
Originally Posted by kpe
Thanks. I should consider myself lucky. My Wally still allows BB load at the regular terminals, but very few people know it. So I have to time my trip per their schedule. So things are not easy, but still works for now.
Fortunately, in the WMs that allow cashiers and or have self serve kiosks with an attendant, I have not had trouble loading any of my cards. However, I never do more than a single swipe of a GC and almost never do more than $200 at a time.
I also try very hard not to use the same WM more than twice a week.
The cashiers all know me, but I figure that they just consider me a regular since the amounts and frequency of use do not really exceed what an ordinary customer would be doing.''
Fortunately, in the WMs that allow cashiers and or have self serve kiosks with an attendant, I have not had trouble loading any of my cards. However, I never do more than a single swipe of a GC and almost never do more than $200 at a time.
I also try very hard not to use the same WM more than twice a week.
The cashiers all know me, but I figure that they just consider me a regular since the amounts and frequency of use do not really exceed what an ordinary customer would be doing.''
No whales in my neck of the sea, only us minnows.
I never do more than one swipe either. But I do squeeze 3 to 5 transactions per visit. I am there a few times a month so I mostly pass off as regular customer.
Jan 1, 21, 7:24 am - Wikipost
