Old Jan 1, 2018, 10:53 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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.
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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
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Buying Money Orders at Walmart (2018)

Old Oct 19, 2018, 11:19 pm
  #1726  
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Programs: DL, Marriott & IHG Platty; HH Diamonte
Posts: 859
Originally Posted by SkippyME
Hello...
Wondering if anyone has any tips regarding a "card read error" on a MB VGC. It happened a couple days ago and then I tried the card again today and got the same error. The error comes up right after I swipe, so it's not a PIN input error. Today I tried another card after this one gave the error and that one went through fine. I checked the balance of the problem card and funds are loaded to the card. I guess it could be a problem with the magnetic strip? I haven't tried making a purchase anywhere else with this card.
I would suggest that next time you try the messed up card that you tell the cashier that your card hasn't been working correctly and ask for a plastic bag. Wrap a single layer of the plastic bag around the card and try to swipe again (i'm sure you probably know about this trick).
pharmawalk is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2018, 7:27 am
  #1727  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 506
Originally Posted by SkippyME
Hello...
Wondering if anyone has any tips regarding a "card read error" on a MB VGC. It happened a couple days ago and then I tried the card again today and got the same error. The error comes up right after I swipe, so it's not a PIN input error. Today I tried another card after this one gave the error and that one went through fine. I checked the balance of the problem card and funds are loaded to the card. I guess it could be a problem with the magnetic strip? I haven't tried making a purchase anywhere else with this card.
Happened to me before.
Try swiping it at a vending machine
If it doesn't read at all, then the mag stripe is messed up
Call MB for a replacement.
canyoncar is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2018, 7:35 am
  #1728  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: All of them
Posts: 1,663
Originally Posted by SkippyME
Hello...
Wondering if anyone has any tips regarding a "card read error" on a MB VGC. It happened a couple days ago and then I tried the card again today and got the same error. The error comes up right after I swipe, so it's not a PIN input error. Today I tried another card after this one gave the error and that one went through fine. I checked the balance of the problem card and funds are loaded to the card. I guess it could be a problem with the magnetic strip? I haven't tried making a purchase anywhere else with this card.
Are your cards from simon? Some of those are not manufactured properly, and swiping UP, instead of Down seems to work.
littlewinglet is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2018, 10:45 am
  #1729  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 45
If plastic bag, swiping up, don't work but vending machine does, try facing the magnetic strip the wrong direction. I've had this issue on a SM vgc and the 150yo yellow vest took my card out of my hand, said I had to swipe it backwards on these machines, swiped it, looked at It, and then got that angry Anti Money Laundering Task Force face that they get. So I said thanks and left with my card. Don't let people touch your cards.
Hb1500 is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2018, 11:41 am
  #1730  
 
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: Various
Posts: 35
VGC Card read error

Thank you all for your suggestions. This card was purchased at Giant, not Simon Mall. I don't know the plastic bag trick... I'll try to look online and see if I can figure it out. Hopefully I can avoid calling for a new card... We'll see. Thanks again.
SkippyME is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2018, 1:50 pm
  #1731  
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 779
Originally Posted by SkippyME
Thank you all for your suggestions. This card was purchased at Giant, not Simon Mall. I don't know the plastic bag trick... I'll try to look online and see if I can figure it out. Hopefully I can avoid calling for a new card... We'll see. Thanks again.
Or just use it to make an insurance payment online.
gw14 is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2018, 8:29 am
  #1732  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Originally Posted by gw14
Or just use it to make an insurance payment online.
I had one VGC from a large order from GCM that wouldn't scan at WM. I tried it at the grocery store and still won't scan so I called them up, rep said they will subtract the fee to send a replacement card. I just used it online for insurance premium.
Mamibear is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2018, 8:38 am
  #1733  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,322
Originally Posted by Hb1500
If plastic bag, swiping up, don't work but vending machine does, try facing the magnetic strip the wrong direction. I've had this issue on a SM vgc and the 150yo yellow vest took my card out of my hand, said I had to swipe it backwards on these machines, swiped it, looked at It, and then got that angry Anti Money Laundering Task Force face that they get. So I said thanks and left with my card. Don't let people touch your cards.
I'm with you on the not touching cards bit, but I can also confirm that some of the POSkeyboards are installed "backwards," i.e., you have to swipe with stripe facing right. There's one particular terminal at my WM CS desk that's like this.
tuphat is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2018, 8:48 am
  #1734  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 506
Originally Posted by Mamibear
I had one VGC from a large order from GCM that wouldn't scan at WM. I tried it at the grocery store and still won't scan so I called them up, rep said they will subtract the fee to send a replacement card. I just used it online for insurance premium.
I wasn't charged any kind of fee from GCM to get a replacement card.
canyoncar is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2018, 6:02 pm
  #1735  
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 34
Had a fun one today... Did a BP followed quickly by a MO transaction. When the MO screen to confirm printing popped up, it immediately disappeared. The system didn't spit out a receipt until the 120 second timer on the money express system timed out, and no MO slip (the second receipt) printed. The receipt indicated that everything worked fine. Fortunately I go here daily and everyone knows me because we had to explain to the managers all of the things that you would cringe to explain to the average WM manager. They couldn't figure it out tonight (MG phone numbers were closed), so they are going to work on it over the following week. I'm guessing that MG will do something to reverse the transaction and I'll get cash. BTW, they did a MO for .01 to test and the system worked fine... it didn't recognize that there were "missing" MOs, just printed the next one in line and confirmed. This WM is still on the old old system where they confirm the last 4 digits and I don't sign anything.
Melanion90 is offline  
Old Oct 23, 2018, 4:15 pm
  #1736  
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 34
Update: The assistant general manager did a cash transaction for two more money orders today to make me whole. He isn't sure how he is going to fix the issue with MG.
Melanion90 is offline  
Old Oct 23, 2018, 8:50 pm
  #1737  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,322
Originally Posted by Melanion90
Update: The assistant general manager did a cash transaction for two more money orders today to make me whole. He isn't sure how he is going to fix the issue with MG.
Were your GCs actually charged?
tuphat is offline  
Old Oct 23, 2018, 9:32 pm
  #1738  
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 34
Yeah, we had checked that the day it happened.
Melanion90 is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2018, 8:28 am
  #1739  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 45
Originally Posted by Melanion90
Yeah, we had checked that the day it happened.
And you've checked recently to make sure they haven't been refunded?
Hb1500 is offline  
Old Oct 24, 2018, 8:57 am
  #1740  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 79
The rollout continues. CSR at one of my go to WMs told me no split payments going forward. She mentioned something about structuring but I didnt have the will power to argue. Will have to see if they have all been compromised. This is in AZ.
Davyboyo is offline  

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