Jan 1, 2018, 10:53 am
Last edit by: wyogold
This is the thread for 2018. The previous discussion can be found here.
The 2019 thread can be found here
New to MO: Read this entire Wiki (Click to open) and all posts for some tips before asking common questions. It is best to know what you are doing before you try.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tested Gebit cards:
1. DO NOT WORK - Any Vanilla product affiliated with InComm or ITC Financial Services will not work for swipes over $49.99.
2. Visas issued by MetaBank work great.
3. MC issued by US bank work good, but you need to change payment type to debit before they enter the amount in the register. See below for details.
5. Gdot/sun work but take about an hour to activate.
NEW Limits as of 11/18 - 8K with ID every 24 hours. ID required for MO over 1K.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________
Some tips for starting out:
All WM registers allow 4 debit swipes per transaction, but YMMV per store and cashier. Refer to cards as Debit cards.
Start slow and buy one MO with one Gebit to see how it works. Refer to cards as Debit, only this community calls them Gebits. Your store or cashier may have rules that other stores do not have, only allowing one swipe per trans or up to 4 swipes per trans. Read all the tips below and all the posts below before trying more advanced transactions. NO variety or design of VISA or MC Gebit's will ever auto-drain at Walmart so always tell them the amount you want to pay per card. Fee: 1K MO or less is usually 88 cents each, but ask or check the wall. Subtract the fee from the total or pay in cash. If a store says "no", thank them and try again another day with a different clerk.
Helpful details and tips for advanced transactions:
1. Cost: 1K MO fee is usually 88 cents each(Some states limit MO total to 750 or 950 and may have a different fee). Subtract fee from your total or pay in cash. Can buy two 1K MO in one transaction with 4 swipes for 88 cents x 2 in most states. NO variety or design of VISA or MC Gebit's will ever auto-drain at Walmart so always tell them the amount you want to pay per card.
2. Split payment transcations: You cannot successfully swipe more than 4 cards in a single transaction. If the cashier screws up and enters $50.00 instead of $500.00 (thus making it impossible for 4 swipes to complete the transaction), the transaction will need to be canceled. The funds should return to your cards right away but may take 24 hours, so note the time and person helping you. When a transaction is canceled during the trans, the money returns to the cards. If canceled after, the cash reg drawer opens and they pay you back in cash.
3. Split payment: The amount of each swipe needs to be entered by the cashier. Ask to "split the payment by $$$". The Gebit must have current balance of that amount or more otherwise slip with Error 51 will print out. Warning: (YMMV) It appears (my experience on 3 occasions during prepaid card load and buying MO in 2 different WMs) that after the debit card was charged no cash could be credited back to the card. Cashier should issue cash back. Keep the slip and contact manager if in doubt. Remember date, time and register if no slip.
4. Bad Printer: IF, by chance, you've swiped your GCs successfully, a receipt prints but the MO doesn't, make sure to ask to see the receipt and check near the bottom IF it says CHANGE/REFUND with a negative sign before the amount of GCs you swiped, that means the cashier must give you cash refund. Cashier may have to call for the cash dept manager to verify the refund. Some stores may outright give your cash refund immediately while there are others that will ask you to come back. Think twice before you buy MOs while on vacation or when you're in unknown to you territories for issues like this.
5. Kiosk: Very few Kate's can sell money orders anymore.>>>>Sometime 2016, a lot of WM supercenters have done away with Kate (kiosks that allows loading of prepaids/sell $500 MOs). As of today, MOST, if not ALL WMs, have replaced this with the regular slim ATM to check balance/withdraw money.
6. MCGC liquidation- The cashier should not enter the amount first. Technically they just can't hit enter after entering the amount. Let the CSR know you need to swipe first and switch the payment type to debit, then swipe and hit "Cancel" or "Change Payment" to select "Debit" on the screen, enter the pin and have them enter the amount.
Debit codes PDF
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/attac...0&d=1461170080
The 2019 thread can be found here
New to MO: Read this entire Wiki (Click to open) and all posts for some tips before asking common questions. It is best to know what you are doing before you try.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tested Gebit cards:
1. DO NOT WORK - Any Vanilla product affiliated with InComm or ITC Financial Services will not work for swipes over $49.99.
2. Visas issued by MetaBank work great.
3. MC issued by US bank work good, but you need to change payment type to debit before they enter the amount in the register. See below for details.
5. Gdot/sun work but take about an hour to activate.
NEW Limits as of 11/18 - 8K with ID every 24 hours. ID required for MO over 1K.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________
Some tips for starting out:
All WM registers allow 4 debit swipes per transaction, but YMMV per store and cashier. Refer to cards as Debit cards.
Start slow and buy one MO with one Gebit to see how it works. Refer to cards as Debit, only this community calls them Gebits. Your store or cashier may have rules that other stores do not have, only allowing one swipe per trans or up to 4 swipes per trans. Read all the tips below and all the posts below before trying more advanced transactions. NO variety or design of VISA or MC Gebit's will ever auto-drain at Walmart so always tell them the amount you want to pay per card. Fee: 1K MO or less is usually 88 cents each, but ask or check the wall. Subtract the fee from the total or pay in cash. If a store says "no", thank them and try again another day with a different clerk.
Helpful details and tips for advanced transactions:
1. Cost: 1K MO fee is usually 88 cents each(Some states limit MO total to 750 or 950 and may have a different fee). Subtract fee from your total or pay in cash. Can buy two 1K MO in one transaction with 4 swipes for 88 cents x 2 in most states. NO variety or design of VISA or MC Gebit's will ever auto-drain at Walmart so always tell them the amount you want to pay per card.
2. Split payment transcations: You cannot successfully swipe more than 4 cards in a single transaction. If the cashier screws up and enters $50.00 instead of $500.00 (thus making it impossible for 4 swipes to complete the transaction), the transaction will need to be canceled. The funds should return to your cards right away but may take 24 hours, so note the time and person helping you. When a transaction is canceled during the trans, the money returns to the cards. If canceled after, the cash reg drawer opens and they pay you back in cash.
3. Split payment: The amount of each swipe needs to be entered by the cashier. Ask to "split the payment by $$$". The Gebit must have current balance of that amount or more otherwise slip with Error 51 will print out. Warning: (YMMV) It appears (my experience on 3 occasions during prepaid card load and buying MO in 2 different WMs) that after the debit card was charged no cash could be credited back to the card. Cashier should issue cash back. Keep the slip and contact manager if in doubt. Remember date, time and register if no slip.
4. Bad Printer: IF, by chance, you've swiped your GCs successfully, a receipt prints but the MO doesn't, make sure to ask to see the receipt and check near the bottom IF it says CHANGE/REFUND with a negative sign before the amount of GCs you swiped, that means the cashier must give you cash refund. Cashier may have to call for the cash dept manager to verify the refund. Some stores may outright give your cash refund immediately while there are others that will ask you to come back. Think twice before you buy MOs while on vacation or when you're in unknown to you territories for issues like this.
5. Kiosk: Very few Kate's can sell money orders anymore.>>>>Sometime 2016, a lot of WM supercenters have done away with Kate (kiosks that allows loading of prepaids/sell $500 MOs). As of today, MOST, if not ALL WMs, have replaced this with the regular slim ATM to check balance/withdraw money.
6. MCGC liquidation- The cashier should not enter the amount first. Technically they just can't hit enter after entering the amount. Let the CSR know you need to swipe first and switch the payment type to debit, then swipe and hit "Cancel" or "Change Payment" to select "Debit" on the screen, enter the pin and have them enter the amount.
Debit codes PDF
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/attac...0&d=1461170080
Buying Money Orders at Walmart (2018)
May 1, 2018, 6:28 am
#796
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 31
Personally, I think that's overkill, but reasonable people can hopefully disagree. If you're really worried about IRS (and you may already be doing this), consider also retaining (i) receipt/statement for GC purchase and (ii) receipt/statement for the bank deposit. You'd then be able to document the entire series of transactions.
May 1, 2018, 6:57 am
#797
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
"Keep records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, if you file a claim for credit or refund after you file your return. Keep records for 7 years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction."
May 1, 2018, 7:00 am
#798
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 31
That's way overkill. From the IRS website:
"Keep records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, if you file a claim for credit or refund after you file your return. Keep records for 7 years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction."
"Keep records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, if you file a claim for credit or refund after you file your return. Keep records for 7 years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction."
May 1, 2018, 7:50 am
#799
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 463
I'm glad you said this. When I realized CC cashback wasn't taxed, I started throwing out all my old records, keeping them only long enough to liquidate. It never occurred to me that the IRS might question all the extra money being deposited into my account, though it's obvious in hindsight. Back to keeping records for years for me.
May 1, 2018, 10:04 am
#800
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 31
I'm glad you said this. When I realized CC cashback wasn't taxed, I started throwing out all my old records, keeping them only long enough to liquidate. It never occurred to me that the IRS might question all the extra money being deposited into my account, though it's obvious in hindsight. Back to keeping records for years for me.
May 1, 2018, 11:14 am
#801
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: SoCal (ONT), PVD/BOS, JAX, RSW
Programs: AA/US PlatPro & 1.05MM, DL Plat (challenge), UA dirt
Posts: 3,189
It seems that one of my local WMs has gone to 1 MO, 1 swipe per day. And according to the CSM it was because there were a few people who were spending 30+ minutes at the counter and they were being measured on # of transactions and # of customers served.
May 1, 2018, 11:14 am
#802
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: NRT
Programs: UA gold
Posts: 135
Like others have said, the odds are very high you won't be audited. So many MS'rs dont' keep records. I'm just a former auditor for a state gov't and know we don't give a F about things unless you have records proving otherwise. So I'd rather be safe than sorry. Plus 2-3 boxes a year (if you don't know what baseball card boxes i'm talking about: https://www.bcwsupplies.com/trading-...ing-card-boxes i get the 800 counts. ) really doesn't take up much space in the garage.
May 1, 2018, 11:34 am
#803
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 31
Basically. Like I stack them on the long edge together and put all the receipts on top or in another box and duct taped to first. It's not prettiest solution (I know guys who scan everything, or who clip GC with receipts than store) but it works for me.
May 1, 2018, 12:42 pm
#804
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 261
Same bad news I got last week at my go-to, Now down to 1 transaction per customer (4 swipes). I know all the girls very well in the Money Center that they just ask "how many today?" But to get to the point one of the girls was telling me that these 2 new guys they never seen before came in with over 50 $200/$300 GC's each and would hold up the line for over 30 min. They did this for about a week before they got shutdown and the girls haven't seen them since.
May 1, 2018, 1:11 pm
#805
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 43
Same bad news I got last week at my go-to, Now down to 1 transaction per customer (4 swipes). I know all the girls very well in the Money Center that they just ask "how many today?" But to get to the point one of the girls was telling me that these 2 new guys they never seen before came in with over 50 $200/$300 GC's each and would hold up the line for over 30 min. They did this for about a week before they got shutdown and the girls haven't seen them since.
Anytime I have more than 2 MO to make (not very often) and there are people behind me, I just walk around the store for a few minutes and come back to finish off the rest. Dont want to draw too much attention or be "that guy"
May 1, 2018, 1:11 pm
#806
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: SoCal (ONT), PVD/BOS, JAX, RSW
Programs: AA/US PlatPro & 1.05MM, DL Plat (challenge), UA dirt
Posts: 3,189
Same bad news I got last week at my go-to, Now down to 1 transaction per customer (4 swipes). I know all the girls very well in the Money Center that they just ask "how many today?" But to get to the point one of the girls was telling me that these 2 new guys they never seen before came in with over 50 $200/$300 GC's each and would hold up the line for over 30 min. They did this for about a week before they got shutdown and the girls haven't seen them since.
May 1, 2018, 1:35 pm
#807
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 6,433
It'll be a cycle...it gets really bad and then the abusers no longer abuse and then things get back to normal. The biggest issue for CSR/CSMs at WM is that they are constantly having their performance rated through metrics like # of customers per hour, # of transactions per hour, accuracy of transactions, friendliness and overall customer satisfaction. So, when the people with 50+ cards show up, it torpedos all of those metrics, so the ASM or SM makes the decision to restrict MO sales.
May 2, 2018, 10:34 am
#808
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 889
Another 'new' way of selling MOs at my WM. Now they need ID, type everything into their computer, occupation and SSN for 2 x 999.18 MOs. Also SSN request sometimes flashes on POS screen then goes away so I can't even enter it (although I may or may not accidentally enter it incorrectly as I am not even legally required to provide it for buying MOs). All this information needs to be entered every time from scratch, apparently.
What used to take 2 minutes now takes 10 minutes and the whole 'new' process seems to confuse the heck out of the CSRs.
I'm hoping this stuff will soon go the same way as the previous new system with the 'gift certificate' notification.
What used to take 2 minutes now takes 10 minutes and the whole 'new' process seems to confuse the heck out of the CSRs.
I'm hoping this stuff will soon go the same way as the previous new system with the 'gift certificate' notification.
May 2, 2018, 11:02 am
#809
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: All of them
Posts: 1,664
That's odd, under $3000 the system shouldn't ask them for that info. Around my neck of the woods, a lot of WM now limit to one transaction but it can be as much as I want...but obviously I can't pay for more than $2k. They said it's because MO system now asks for info on the computer, but won't trigger it under 3k.
May 2, 2018, 11:38 am
#810
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Another 'new' way of selling MOs at my WM. Now they need ID, type everything into their computer, occupation and SSN for 2 x 999.18 MOs. Also SSN request sometimes flashes on POS screen then goes away so I can't even enter it (although I may or may not accidentally enter it incorrectly as I am not even legally required to provide it for buying MOs). All this information needs to be entered every time from scratch, apparently.
What used to take 2 minutes now takes 10 minutes and the whole 'new' process seems to confuse the heck out of the CSRs.
I'm hoping this stuff will soon go the same way as the previous new system with the 'gift certificate' notification.
What used to take 2 minutes now takes 10 minutes and the whole 'new' process seems to confuse the heck out of the CSRs.
I'm hoping this stuff will soon go the same way as the previous new system with the 'gift certificate' notification.