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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 Jul 2, 2019, 11:20 pm
  #781  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 889
Originally Posted by gbenrus25
Lol. Another job!
It is two jobs at that level. Mind numbing jobs with a decent pay, that's for sure. To each their own i guess. I'll just go for the low hanging fruit and happily travel in f with my regular day job that has benefits and feels at least somewhat fulfilling. Personally i like to feel like I'm doing something with my life other than buying money orders
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Old Jul 3, 2019, 3:39 am
  #782  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LAX/SFO
Programs: AS 100k, BA GGL, UA 1k, DL DM, AC SE, B6 Mosaic4, Hyatt/Hilton/Wyndham/IHG Diamond, Marriot Ti
Posts: 1,249
Originally Posted by wyogold
At that level it's just a soul crushing grind. I only do minimal spends and some bonus categories like Amex gold 25k groceries, and am tired of Walmarts. That's maybe 20k on a good month. I cannot fathom going that hard. Salt mines
It just depends where you are and how efficient you are. $400k vgc->mo is done by some in under 20 hours. Which coincidentally is about how much time I used to spend commuting to work before I moved. I've now just replaced my commute with an equivalent detour.
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Old Jul 3, 2019, 4:28 am
  #783  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 889
Originally Posted by TalkingPoint
It just depends where you are and how efficient you are. $400k vgc->mo is done by some in under 20 hours. Which coincidentally is about how much time I used to spend commuting to work before I moved. I've now just replaced my commute with an equivalent detour.
400k/2k = 200 wm runs. No way you can do those consistently at 6 minutes per run all in. No way. If I'm lucky i can do it in 15 minutes on average without counting driving. Lazy / cranky / bossy / inexperienced csrs, customers ahead in line, typing info into computer make that a simple reality. And that still discounts buying gc's, spreadsheet tracking, depositing, making payments etc etc. If you think anyone can scale to 400 k / month in 20 hours, think again. That's very close to a full time job for 2 people.
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Old Jul 3, 2019, 5:47 am
  #784  
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 110
Originally Posted by doggiefizzle

Yeah, but $400k a month at 2-3% cashback net of fees is $10k tax free a month. Not bad if you have a ...... car that gets okay gas mileage and some accommodating CSRs and local banks.

this couple does not do any cashback. Strictly miles/points only. I don't understand the economics of why they do it - Since they are not doing cashback these people are spending some serious $$$ just to MS - makes no sense to me.

Last edited by bailey911; Jul 3, 2019 at 6:38 am
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Old Jul 3, 2019, 6:02 am
  #785  
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 110
Originally Posted by gmt4
I don't doubt there are people who push that hard but I have to wonder how in the F are they not flagged by their bank(s)? I got a rash of crap from my bank for a lot less than that. Accused me of structuring. I explained myself and it went away, but still...
they told me they use a credit union. They never had a problem since they explained what they are doing and "they know us". They say they run an online business but they spend a few hours a day doing this. They also don't seem to travel much. I did ask them about their trips and they said they went on a cruise last year and might fly to Europe at some point.

One of our best Walmarts in the area did get audited because of them and they did tell me they cant go there anymore, but I still am able to get 1 or 2 depending on the cashier

Last edited by bailey911; Jul 3, 2019 at 6:34 am
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Old Jul 3, 2019, 10:52 am
  #786  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 30
Some weirdness last two times at my WM. On a split payment order, the money orders started printing before I entered the PIN on the final payment. On the screen and receipt the last payment shows as having been processed as Visa, not Debit - the last payment actually came out on a separate receipt both times. So I am now wondering if I try a CC for the last payment will it go through? Mind you the whole MO situation seems to be precarious so probably won't try that and risk call attention to it. Or maybe it is an attempted reconfiguration to block VGCs. Or a cashier training issue.
rcw70 is offline  
Old Jul 3, 2019, 11:42 am
  #787  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 213
Originally Posted by bailey911
this couple does not do any cashback. Strictly miles/points only. I don't understand the economics of why they do it - Since they are not doing cashback these people are spending some serious $$$ just to MS - makes no sense to me.
Flights are expensive. especially if you want to travel in luxury. I value miles higher than cashback. I need to fly anyway, and I would be paying for it. for the flight routes I choose, the miles (UR points) are more valuable than just the 1/3/5% cash they are worth. This is why I MS. I never pay for a flight and it's usually always First class. And with all the promos (MM deals on Visa/MC/Giant gas points), I'm not really spending any money, in fact I'm making money on the cards themselves. The UR points are all bonus, free!
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Old Jul 3, 2019, 3:18 pm
  #788  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: 718
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, IHG Diamond
Posts: 967
Probably pumping MR and having amex plat ameriprise transferring 1MR for 1.25x cash
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Old Jul 3, 2019, 3:46 pm
  #789  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LAX/SFO
Programs: AS 100k, BA GGL, UA 1k, DL DM, AC SE, B6 Mosaic4, Hyatt/Hilton/Wyndham/IHG Diamond, Marriot Ti
Posts: 1,249
Originally Posted by wyogold
400k/2k = 200 wm runs. No way you can do those consistently at 6 minutes per run all in. No way. If I'm lucky i can do it in 15 minutes on average without counting driving. Lazy / cranky / bossy / inexperienced csrs, customers ahead in line, typing info into computer make that a simple reality. And that still discounts buying gc's, spreadsheet tracking, depositing, making payments etc etc. If you think anyone can scale to 400 k / month in 20 hours, think again. That's very close to a full time job for 2 people.
You can easily do a set of $2k in 6 minutes. The difference is that most people doing real volume aren't doing 2k/run... It never takes me a whole hour to unload $20k unless the machine breaks or printer needs to be refilled with ink/paper. I also have most of my overhead (ordering/accounting/balancing) automated so I don't even spend an hour per week on that. Most of that time is scanning receipts/mo's and swiping gc's for processing. There are people who've been honing their craft for over a decade and I'm just here trying to soak up whatever I can learn from them to increase my efficiency.
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Old Jul 3, 2019, 4:18 pm
  #790  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,727
Originally Posted by gmt4
I don't doubt there are people who push that hard but I have to wonder how in the F are they not flagged by their bank(s)? I got a rash of crap from my bank for a lot less than that. Accused me of structuring. I explained myself and it went away, but still...
don’t structure and no issue.. I’ve deposited >$10k of MOs plenty of times..
Chelski is offline  
Old Jul 3, 2019, 4:21 pm
  #791  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,727
Originally Posted by wyogold
400k/2k = 200 wm runs. No way you can do those consistently at 6 minutes per run all in. No way. If I'm lucky i can do it in 15 minutes on average without counting driving. Lazy / cranky / bossy / inexperienced csrs, customers ahead in line, typing info into computer make that a simple reality. And that still discounts buying gc's, spreadsheet tracking, depositing, making payments etc etc. If you think anyone can scale to 400 k / month in 20 hours, think again. That's very close to a full time job for 2 people.
it used to be possible to buy $50k+ in one run.. now $8k is possible.. just need the right loc and csr
Chelski is offline  
Old Jul 3, 2019, 6:39 pm
  #792  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LAX/SFO
Programs: AS 100k, BA GGL, UA 1k, DL DM, AC SE, B6 Mosaic4, Hyatt/Hilton/Wyndham/IHG Diamond, Marriot Ti
Posts: 1,249
Originally Posted by Chelski

it used to be possible to buy $50k+ in one run.. now $8k is possible.. just need the right loc and csr
You can do unlimited $1000s or simply use multiple IDs.
TalkingPoint is offline  
Old Jul 3, 2019, 7:14 pm
  #793  
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 31
Do US Bank VGC or US Bank MCGC auto drain at Walmart when buying money orders?
njsalazar is offline  
Old Jul 3, 2019, 7:36 pm
  #794  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 76
The answer is no. You need to tell the CS for the exact amount you want to pay.

Originally Posted by njsalazar
Do US Bank VGC or US Bank MCGC auto drain at Walmart when buying money orders?
zyqnc is offline  
Old Jul 3, 2019, 7:53 pm
  #795  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 6,447
Further f/u on my carding at a WMSC MC for one $800 MO.
I did not have any further requests for ID when I went to several other WMs without a MC for $800 MOs.
When I went back to the same WM that had carded me, a new CSM did not request any ID. So go figure.
IMO, it was just generated by one CSM for whatever reason. I will keep tracking this.
radonc1 is offline  


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