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Buying Money Orders at Walmart (2019 - 2022)

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Old Jan 2, 2019, 9:51 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: danpeake
As of Nov 11, 2020, Meta gebits are getting declined when used for MO/BP purchases at MC/SD. New limit appears to be $99 per swipe with some metas at some stores. READ the posts below and add a data point with details. USB and GD gift cards do not seem to be affected.

This is the thread for 2019. The previous discussion can be found here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manu...rt-2018-a.html

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.

Note: The policy for allowing gift cards as payment for money orders can be more restrictive with certain stores or certain clerks. Just because an employee says there's a new restrictive policy "for all Walmarts" means nothing. There are plenty of cases where the employee is incorrect and the new policy is only regional or store specific.

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Tested Gebit (gift debit) cards:
1. DO NOT WORK - Any Vanilla product affiliated with InComm or ITC Financial Services will not work for swipes over $49.99.
2. See above on Visas issued by MetaBank. New limit appears to be $99 per swipe with some metas at some stores. Follow the posts below for the latest information.
3. MC issued by US bank OR Metabank MC (Giftcards.com) can work, but you need to change payment type to debit before they enter the amount in the register. See below for details.
4. Gdot/sun work but take about an hour to activate.(VGC issued by Sunrise also limited to $99/swipe, same as Metabank issued cards, and Sunrise was available immediately).
5. USB work
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________
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 $1 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 $1 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 transactions: 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. Kates are a distant and pleasant memory now.

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.

7. SSN/ID entry - Any MO purchases in one transaction at or over $3K requires you to input your SSN. Any MO at or over $1K requires ID input (and ID requirement can also be forced by cashier at any amount).



Debit codes PDF
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/attac...0&d=1461170080

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Buying Money Orders at Walmart (2019 - 2022)

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Old Jun 27, 2019, 9:51 am
  #751  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,293
Thanks. And ouch - your jurisdiction taxes the money order fee?

When I got "blocked," I peered over and there was a red bar at the top with some language about "can't process". This sounds different.
danpeake is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2019, 9:59 am
  #752  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 122
Originally Posted by danpeake
Thanks. And ouch - your jurisdiction taxes the money order fee?

When I got "blocked," I peered over and there was a red bar at the top with some language about "can't process". This sounds different.
When will you be unblocked if you receive this "can't process" message? Six months?
redarmy is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2019, 10:02 am
  #753  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 77
Good catch on the tax. It's a bit odd. The tax is only on the MO fee. They also tax VGCs fees here. $505.95 VGCs for y'all become $506.42 for me.

The fact that I was able to buy 4k (2x2k) yesterday afternoon at another location makes me wonder if she's creating a fake error on her end?
daddyo_daddyo is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2019, 10:15 am
  #754  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,293
Originally Posted by redarmy
When will you be unblocked if you receive this "can't process" message? Six months?
Read my response above. For me, it was later that day as I suspect it's not a "block".
danpeake is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2019, 12:24 pm
  #755  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,936
So, has anyone who was “banned” from MO purchases when this initially became an issue, truly banned? Was it just a short term ban? I hit WM quite frequently, and have yet to have an issue.
TTT103 is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2019, 1:02 pm
  #756  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 194
Originally Posted by daddyo_daddyo
Here's a pic...

Thanks for the pic. I've always wondered what the screen says. At my WM EVERYTIME it's happened same clerk, and same answer "it doesn't go" I think the system is hanging. Well, actually it happened one other time with a yellow jacket. She simply logged on another terminal and no problem. I suspect there is something asking about is this suspicious on their screen. They always seem to be answering a bunch of questions before they input my info from my id. She has never told me money order limit reached but I only buy 2K a day from WM. I thought that was the limit with MG. So they can't tell me my limit is reached.
lkohawaii is offline  
Old Jun 27, 2019, 5:53 pm
  #757  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 77
It was BAU at my afternoon WM stop. 2 x $2k. Not sure whats going on with my morning WM.

Do I buy just 1k w/o ID and slowly ramp back up to using my ID, or do I just keep it at 1k for a while and find another WM?
daddyo_daddyo is offline  
Old Jun 29, 2019, 8:46 am
  #758  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,936
Originally Posted by daddyo_daddyo
It was BAU at my afternoon WM stop. 2 x $2k. Not sure whats going on with my morning WM.

Do I buy just 1k w/o ID and slowly ramp back up to using my ID, or do I just keep it at 1k for a while and find another WM?
I have yet to figure out the rhyme or reason to the shut-downs. If you were blocked at your first store, why wouldn't it be systemwide? Moneygram is Moneygram. I would definitely stay under $1K MO's at your first store (with fees), so as not to agitate the associates. GIve it 30 days and then try $2K.

How much volume have you been doing?
TTT103 is offline  
Old Jun 29, 2019, 8:50 am
  #759  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,936
Originally Posted by lkohawaii
I only buy 2K a day from WM. I thought that was the limit with MG. So they can't tell me my limit is reached.
I'm thinking that there may be a rolling limit of some sorts. In other words, $10K a week, $25K a month????? We really need more data points to figure this out.
TTT103 is offline  
Old Jun 29, 2019, 10:47 am
  #760  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 158
Originally Posted by TTT103
I'm thinking that there may be a rolling limit of some sorts. In other words, $10K a week, $25K a month????? We really need more data points to figure this out.
My wife and I routinely do $8k/day each (including fees) and well over $100k/mo and we've never had an issue that didn't turn out to be cashier error.
shipitkthx is offline  
Old Jun 29, 2019, 12:11 pm
  #761  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 276
I only buy $2k each time. My area is friendly but i heard from a cashier there is a person that does the max 7k each time and it’s PITA. 4 transactions, have to enter ID 3 times, and total of 14 swipes. I’m surprise they haven’t got audited or something.
benny08 is offline  
Old Jun 30, 2019, 1:41 pm
  #762  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 6,422
A first for me.
Bought an $800 MO at WMSC at their MC and was carded
Surprised the CSR as well when the computer asked for ID
Since this site is not a usual stop for me but is the only one where I use the MC for MO purchases, I will have to see if the disease has spread to other WMs without MCs.
radonc1 is offline  
Old Jun 30, 2019, 9:46 pm
  #763  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 393
Originally Posted by shipitkthx
My wife and I routinely do $8k/day each (including fees) and well over $100k/mo and we've never had an issue that didn't turn out to be cashier error.
$100K per month? !! Good lord!
gm9928 is offline  
Old Jul 1, 2019, 10:02 am
  #764  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 158
Originally Posted by gm9928
$100K per month? !! Good lord!
Each.
shipitkthx is offline  
Old Jul 1, 2019, 10:17 am
  #765  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,936
Originally Posted by shipitkthx
My wife and I routinely do $8k/day each (including fees) and well over $100k/mo and we've never had an issue that didn't turn out to be cashier error.
Well, that kills my thoughts as to there possibly being a rolling ceiling.
TTT103 is offline  


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