Jan 10, 2016, 7:37 pm
Last edit by: radonc1
As of 9/18/21: WM loads are no longer free. WM will charge each load (no matter what the size) $3.74 in addition to the money being deposited into your Go Bank account.
GoBank fees and limits:
Cash deposits are limited to $2,500 per day and $3,000 per 30 days, subject to a maximum account balance of $50,000.
The monthly fee will accumulate if the account is dormant. You must call the phone number on the back to close the account.
5/29/19 - There may be a difference in which card gets free loads at WM. Getting the card online through GoBank.com sends out a Visa version. This card may not allow free loads at WM. Reports are that getting the card directly at WM will result in free loads. If anyone can confirm this, please do so.
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Shut down reports:
Please list your load/spend/billpay details (in a single statement/lifetime?) e.g.,
type of load, number of loads, denomination of your gc or mp, amount of your billpay, any actual swipe/dd?
lad2 (closed) - May: $2.7K 9 loads 5DDs - June: $5.5K 5 loads 6DDs - July: $4.6K 6 loads 1DD - August $9.9K 19 loads 1DD - no swipes
TheDapperDon (open) June $4.5k 5 loads. All GCs. 1 swipe. Everything else BP to CC. 1500 most loaded in one day .July - $3489 5 loads. All GCs. Several swipes. No load until below $20 or so remaining.
raghu455 (closed) May $2k 4 loads, june $7k all GCs. All BP to CC.
drdrew450 (closed) 17K in loads, unloaded all through bill pay, less than a month
cuebert (closed) $4.5k in 9 MP loads, BP out. That was fast.
sgideons (closed) May $7k 17 loads, june $17k 27 loads, july $5k 6 loads, september $3.5k 4 loads. Unloaded 90% ACH pull, 5% PP to self, 5% bill pay tool. Closed on September statement date.
MDWCommuter (closed): June only, $8k in 60 loads, all GC. $2k is most loaded in one day. Wrote 2 BP to CC checks, no ATM, no MP loads, no ACH pull, no DD, always carried at least a $1k balance
ArtemK (closed): 1st month - 5/21 - 6/21 - loaded $6,700, 6/21 - 6/30 - $4K loaded, all via GCs. Unloaded all via BP to Citi and Chase. No ATM, no MP loads, no ACH pull, no DD, no swipes.
rdover1 (Closed): 1st month - $23.6k loaded (WM GC), ~$1k spend, rest bill pay (mostly to CC)
rdover1 2nd card (closed): Closed mid cycle, survived 1st month. No bill pay, only MO. Never loaded over ~$4k. Total activity ~$12k.
T3pleShot (closed): 7k in loads at WMT, 10 loads, mostly $500, some $200, $4k billpay to CC, 5 swipes totaling about $25.
ctbarron (open): Month1 - $3.8k loaded, all bill pay out, 1 swipe; Month2 - $3.7k loaded, all bill pay out, few swipes and an ATM WD; Month3 - $4.2k loaded, all bill pay out, few swipes and an ATM WD. Zero membership fee, usually a balance of under $150.
americanindian (closed)- closed after 3 months today. had about 7.5k deposit each month, with lots of small value(<$20) purchases each month. liquidated mostly using bill pay.
rodsren (closed)- the dapperdon warned me. I was closed today after less than 5,500 or loaaing in less than 3 weeks (was going to try to keep it to 7,500 - 10,000 but didn't luck out.)
binnycode (closed, re-opened) - 7x $200 loads + 1x $700 load + 3x $500 over 2 days got me shut down. Called CSR and they re-opened my account, letting me know that "direct deposit would reduce my number of trips to walmart" lol!
tarcapone (open) old version opened October 2014 still alive February 2016. Load $1k/week ($4-$5K per month) nearly every Monday morning. Bill pay out large chunks to Credit cards. (Open) new version Opened November 2015 load $1K per week, but skipping a week each month. Bill pay out large chunks. My $1K/week is always one transaction (2x$500GC).
GoBank fees and limits:
Cash deposits are limited to $2,500 per day and $3,000 per 30 days, subject to a maximum account balance of $50,000.
- Sign up online & through the GoBank app FREE
- Sign up with a starter kit from participating retail stores Purchase a starter kit at a participating retail location ($2.95 or less) + start your account for as little as $20, up to $500
- Monthly Membership FREE in any month that you make qualifying direct deposits totaling at least $500. Otherwise, $8.95 per month. For more details on the Monthly Membership fee
Keep in mind the maximum number of swipes for payment when loading prepaid reloadables including GoBank is THREE. Swiping the prepaid card is considered as FIRST swipe so it leaves you with THREE remaining swipes so plan accordingly.
The monthly fee will accumulate if the account is dormant. You must call the phone number on the back to close the account.
5/29/19 - There may be a difference in which card gets free loads at WM. Getting the card online through GoBank.com sends out a Visa version. This card may not allow free loads at WM. Reports are that getting the card directly at WM will result in free loads. If anyone can confirm this, please do so.
-----------------------------
Shut down reports:
Please list your load/spend/billpay details (in a single statement/lifetime?) e.g.,
type of load, number of loads, denomination of your gc or mp, amount of your billpay, any actual swipe/dd?
lad2 (closed) - May: $2.7K 9 loads 5DDs - June: $5.5K 5 loads 6DDs - July: $4.6K 6 loads 1DD - August $9.9K 19 loads 1DD - no swipes
TheDapperDon (open) June $4.5k 5 loads. All GCs. 1 swipe. Everything else BP to CC. 1500 most loaded in one day .July - $3489 5 loads. All GCs. Several swipes. No load until below $20 or so remaining.
raghu455 (closed) May $2k 4 loads, june $7k all GCs. All BP to CC.
drdrew450 (closed) 17K in loads, unloaded all through bill pay, less than a month
cuebert (closed) $4.5k in 9 MP loads, BP out. That was fast.
sgideons (closed) May $7k 17 loads, june $17k 27 loads, july $5k 6 loads, september $3.5k 4 loads. Unloaded 90% ACH pull, 5% PP to self, 5% bill pay tool. Closed on September statement date.
MDWCommuter (closed): June only, $8k in 60 loads, all GC. $2k is most loaded in one day. Wrote 2 BP to CC checks, no ATM, no MP loads, no ACH pull, no DD, always carried at least a $1k balance
ArtemK (closed): 1st month - 5/21 - 6/21 - loaded $6,700, 6/21 - 6/30 - $4K loaded, all via GCs. Unloaded all via BP to Citi and Chase. No ATM, no MP loads, no ACH pull, no DD, no swipes.
rdover1 (Closed): 1st month - $23.6k loaded (WM GC), ~$1k spend, rest bill pay (mostly to CC)
rdover1 2nd card (closed): Closed mid cycle, survived 1st month. No bill pay, only MO. Never loaded over ~$4k. Total activity ~$12k.
T3pleShot (closed): 7k in loads at WMT, 10 loads, mostly $500, some $200, $4k billpay to CC, 5 swipes totaling about $25.
ctbarron (open): Month1 - $3.8k loaded, all bill pay out, 1 swipe; Month2 - $3.7k loaded, all bill pay out, few swipes and an ATM WD; Month3 - $4.2k loaded, all bill pay out, few swipes and an ATM WD. Zero membership fee, usually a balance of under $150.
americanindian (closed)- closed after 3 months today. had about 7.5k deposit each month, with lots of small value(<$20) purchases each month. liquidated mostly using bill pay.
rodsren (closed)- the dapperdon warned me. I was closed today after less than 5,500 or loaaing in less than 3 weeks (was going to try to keep it to 7,500 - 10,000 but didn't luck out.)
binnycode (closed, re-opened) - 7x $200 loads + 1x $700 load + 3x $500 over 2 days got me shut down. Called CSR and they re-opened my account, letting me know that "direct deposit would reduce my number of trips to walmart" lol!
tarcapone (open) old version opened October 2014 still alive February 2016. Load $1k/week ($4-$5K per month) nearly every Monday morning. Bill pay out large chunks to Credit cards. (Open) new version Opened November 2015 load $1K per week, but skipping a week each month. Bill pay out large chunks. My $1K/week is always one transaction (2x$500GC).
Gobank by Greendot - online banking with debit card(2016 onwards)
Dec 18, 2020, 3:46 pm
#1158
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 6,445
Dec 18, 2020, 4:29 pm
#1159
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 69
It would be good to get more detailed DP's on what might have led to the shutdowns. I suggest future posts provide the following data to help those still alive, and those who will try to get a new card.
.
.
- Normally carry a balance or have a load + drain immediately strategy?
- Load patterns (velocity and load size)?
- Ever pay the monthly fee?
- Usage of the card for any regular swipes?
- Push bill payments from GoBank or pull from recipient account?
- Size of typical bill payment (many smaller ones or few large)?
- Did you often exceed the $2.5k month load (or $3k including the DD), and by how much?
- Account age?
my gobank card is old enough to not have a fee. Was that REALLY before 2014??? wow...
I haven't been shut down yet, but I have a bunch of $297 loads recently. Basically, I always do one transaction for every load...usually to pay my wireless bill in a medium amount. Getting lunch works as well. We'll see if I get the axe soon...
oh, and once they lowered the loading limit to $500 at WM, I never came close to $3k a month. It wasn't worth my time. I do GoBank loads usually once a week. Sometimes once every two weeks. However, I ramped it up recently trying to drain the last of my VGC after having an ABSURD amount of $200's in early Nov.
Dec 22, 2020, 9:15 am
#1161
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,061
damn, found out that they flagged my acct for a few large-amt bill pay & froze the remaining $ in the closed acct; sent them f&b of DL as requested last week but still waiting for a V&V so i can liquidate the rest
Dec 22, 2020, 4:01 pm
#1163
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 69
how large were the amounts? I'd regularly do $900-$990 bill pays with no issue
Dec 23, 2020, 7:59 am
#1165
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: DUB-BOS
Programs: various
Posts: 3,692
My GoCard is still working, so may as well provide some details
.
My hunch is the regular swipes + balance carry + keeping bill pay amounts down are what are keeping me alive.
.
- Normally carry a balance or have a load + drain immediately strategy? - If you average out over the month guess I carry about 1k balance usually. Not sure I ever drained to zero
- Load patterns (velocity and load size)? mix of 200's and 500's. Some of my WM only allow 200 at register. They do not allow b2b at a single register either, but I used to get rid of 2-3 between registers and MC in a single visit. Some months the entire 3k load would be via 1 week of $200 loads. Going forward I probably revert to 500 loads unless WM relax the meta ban
- Ever pay the monthly fee? Once in 5yrs
- Usage of the card for any regular swipes? I used to use it for 5-6 sub $5 swipes per month, but stopped. Started using for small swipes again recently, just before the shutdowns.
- Push bill payments from GoBank or pull from recipient account? 95% push from gobank
- Size of typical bill payment (many smaller ones or few large)? mix of utilities and other non CC friendly bills ranging from $50 to couple of hundred. Lots of CC bills sub $1k, maybe 10% CC bill over 1k, rarely (never?) over 1.5k
- Did you often exceed the $2.5k month load (or $3k including the DD), and by how much? yes, not always, but in the past year have often went a few hundred over
- Account age? 5+ yrs
My hunch is the regular swipes + balance carry + keeping bill pay amounts down are what are keeping me alive.
Dec 23, 2020, 7:55 pm
#1166
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 6,445
You have to emulate what the business is trying to cater to.
Go Bank wants to service those who earn around $30-40K a year. They make it possible by having a fee-free on line checking account if the person direct deposits at least $500/mo into their account. Max deposit is $3000/mo which means if someone deposits their full paycheck, we are only talking $36,000 /yr take home.
This cohort of people don't pay 4 digit CC bills. They do pay rent, utilities, car payments and groceries. This is what the rats who populate this site are looking for.
So if you keep your deposits within reason and bill pays appropriate, this should keep the account alive.
Unfortunately, that means it is small potatoes as far as MS is concerned
Dec 23, 2020, 9:36 pm
#1167
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: EWR/PHL/BWI
Posts: 4,412
This is how you keep these accounts alive.
You have to emulate what the business is trying to cater to.
Go Bank wants to service those who earn around $30-40K a year. They make it possible by having a fee-free on line checking account if the person direct deposits at least $500/mo into their account. Max deposit is $3000/mo which means if someone deposits their full paycheck, we are only talking $36,000 /yr take home.
This cohort of people don't pay 4 digit CC bills. They do pay rent, utilities, car payments and groceries. This is what the rats who populate this site are looking for.
So if you keep your deposits within reason and bill pays appropriate, this should keep the account alive.
Unfortunately, that means it is small potatoes as far as MS is concerned
You have to emulate what the business is trying to cater to.
Go Bank wants to service those who earn around $30-40K a year. They make it possible by having a fee-free on line checking account if the person direct deposits at least $500/mo into their account. Max deposit is $3000/mo which means if someone deposits their full paycheck, we are only talking $36,000 /yr take home.
This cohort of people don't pay 4 digit CC bills. They do pay rent, utilities, car payments and groceries. This is what the rats who populate this site are looking for.
So if you keep your deposits within reason and bill pays appropriate, this should keep the account alive.
Unfortunately, that means it is small potatoes as far as MS is concerned
They get so much time with the Covid....radonc1 , you need to cheer up.
Dec 31, 2020, 11:16 am
#1169
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 141
FT-hss what was the outcome of your limited access? Did you receive a permanent card?
I received the limited access after submitting my information.
I received the limited access after submitting my information.
Dec 31, 2020, 12:02 pm
#1170
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: EWR/PHL/BWI
Posts: 4,412
Also have this issue. Bought a gobank starter card (mastercard) in walmart. When registering the card at gobank.com with real information at first time, I was told can't verify information and asked to input again. Make sure everything is correct and submit application again, then got the "limited use account" information. Any solution to reverse this limited users status? Thanks!