Jan 7, 2016, 8:18 am
Last edit by: RedSun
This is the 2016 and onwards Bluebird thread.
The original discussion. The previous 2013- 2014 megathread. The previous 2015 megathread.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the wiki before posting a question.
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:
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.
The original discussion. The previous 2013- 2014 megathread. The previous 2015 megathread.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the wiki before posting a question.
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.
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 master thread (2016 onwards)
Dec 6, 2017, 8:05 am
#571
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 202
I've had this happen to me as well, usually it's a glitch or the cashier did it wrong IMO. Like someone said, try loading cash if this happens again. That is a sure sign it's shut down. I didn't get an email about shutdown but they did it to me last month. I tried cash and it was denied.
Aug 13, 2018, 2:41 pm
#572
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 30
$200 x 2 MC didn't work for me an hour ago but the BB website was laggy when I checked while waiting for the cashier. I could only see my balance. Now the website is down for me. Maybe just system updates? I last successfully reloaded two days ago.
Aug 14, 2018, 8:18 am
#573
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 110
BB and serve were having issues yesterday, confirmed by amex:
Aug 15, 2018, 12:31 pm
#574
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 483
Has anyone had any trouble with AMEX offers on Bluebird? I loaded the Rover AMEX offer to my two Bluebird cards (wife and I) and two Serve cards (wife and I) about 2 months ago, and it is set to expire in a few days. I met the minimum purchase requirement and immediately received emails for the two Serve cards, that I had met the requirements. I received no such emails for the Bluebird cards. I waited and the purchases posted and still nothing. I called Bluebird's CS in India and after hour long waits to speak with managers and I am beyond frustrated. They say they see no promotion added to my account. They don't see any AMEX offers loaded to my account and thus can't give me the credits and are acting like they don't know what an AMEX offer is, even though they are clearly loaded to both cards. I was told they are the highest level managers and I'd have to write a letter to corporate to get anyone higher up. Any experience with this or any advice?
Aug 31, 2018, 2:30 pm
#575
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SAN
Posts: 54
Attempted to load BB with mcgc from Staples at WM. First swipe had something like "card error". Second and third swipe said "tender not accepted". Cashier pointed it out and asked "are you using a debit or cc? does it have a chip?" I said no and she said the card may not work. Located in SAN.
Aug 31, 2018, 5:43 pm
#576
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 350
Attempted to load BB with mcgc from Staples at WM. First swipe had something like "card error". Second and third swipe said "tender not accepted". Cashier pointed it out and asked "are you using a debit or cc? does it have a chip?" I said no and she said the card may not work. Located in SAN.
Sep 6, 2018, 1:33 pm
#580
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 198
Did something chang with Bluebird in relation to daily limits?. I thought it was 2K/day and 5K/month. Yday i accidentally loaded 2.5K and it worked.
Sep 6, 2018, 1:55 pm
#581
Join Date: Jun 2011
Programs: DL, Amex MR
Posts: 287
Not trying to be mean but in the wiki it clearly says:
- Cash loading via VR or WM load: $2,500/day and $5,000 total per calendar month
Sep 6, 2018, 7:47 pm
#582
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 198
My bad. I thought it was 2K/day unless it changed recently which i am not aware of. I am used to doing this for the past 2 years and have been doing 2K/day.
Sep 7, 2018, 6:18 am
#583
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 43
Maybe I'm just clueless, but what advantages does BB have over MO?
I've been MSin for about 8 months now on what I think is light/moderate volume (5k a week roughly give or take). All MS activity has been VGC ---> MO and really haven't been given any flak from my local Wallys.
Is this one of those things where its another liquidation method if MO were out of the question?
Like I said, I'm just ignorant for the simple fact that I've never had issues getting any MO and finding another method hasn't been a necessity.
I've been MSin for about 8 months now on what I think is light/moderate volume (5k a week roughly give or take). All MS activity has been VGC ---> MO and really haven't been given any flak from my local Wallys.
Is this one of those things where its another liquidation method if MO were out of the question?
Like I said, I'm just ignorant for the simple fact that I've never had issues getting any MO and finding another method hasn't been a necessity.
Sep 7, 2018, 7:25 am
#584
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: EWR/PHL/BWI
Posts: 4,412
Maybe I'm just clueless, but what advantages does BB have over MO?
I've been MSin for about 8 months now on what I think is light/moderate volume (5k a week roughly give or take). All MS activity has been VGC ---> MO and really haven't been given any flak from my local Wallys.
Is this one of those things where its another liquidation method if MO were out of the question?
Like I said, I'm just ignorant for the simple fact that I've never had issues getting any MO and finding another method hasn't been a necessity.
I've been MSin for about 8 months now on what I think is light/moderate volume (5k a week roughly give or take). All MS activity has been VGC ---> MO and really haven't been given any flak from my local Wallys.
Is this one of those things where its another liquidation method if MO were out of the question?
Like I said, I'm just ignorant for the simple fact that I've never had issues getting any MO and finding another method hasn't been a necessity.
Sep 7, 2018, 12:51 pm
#585
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 519
Beginning of 2017 BB restricted many accounts from new loading, is this permanent? or BB removing the restriction from some accounts?
My accounted was one of them and I tried to load after almost 18 months but it failed. Can I apply another BB card?
My accounted was one of them and I tried to load after almost 18 months but it failed. Can I apply another BB card?