Jan 2, 2019, 9:51 am
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.
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
Buying Money Orders at Walmart (2019 - 2022)
Nov 19, 2019, 9:41 am
#1531
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,740
Hence craz questioned the rational behind it.
Besides, it is WalMart, they have far far more than enough $100 bills if you ask for such if the drawer has been in operation for a while, i.e. not at the beginning of the shift.. Have you seen the shift change time when cashiers swap their drawers? Or when the dedicated yellow vests come to clear the cash of the drawers?
Besides, the back office always have many more than your $1000 in $100 denomination ready.
Nov 19, 2019, 9:52 am
#1532
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 317
A Walmart-filed SAR without any photo ID-related information on file with UST is an intense problem for the attempting MO-buyer who didn't buy the MO? Are WM clerks reporting J. Doe to UST/FinCEN for a suspicious activity that didn't take place and saying it was done by some unknown person? 
A SAR filed by some company employee who accepted and processed SARs with stolen/fraudulently-used real photo ID is is a more intense problem for a real person hit with a series of SARs based on fraudulently-used ID for questionable MO purchases than it is for a real person not hit with a series of SARs because their photo ID and name was never captured and never ended up available for misuse for questionable MO purchases or other activity.
Not trusting a retailer and their low-paid employees with protecting ID documents and their data is suspicious? Only in the world of suspect thinking at this point ... in a world where many innocent people have had problems with the UST/IRS because of misused ID being used to report income and activity that was not their own.
A SAR filed by some company employee who accepted and processed SARs with stolen/fraudulently-used real photo ID is is a more intense problem for a real person hit with a series of SARs based on fraudulently-used ID for questionable MO purchases than it is for a real person not hit with a series of SARs because their photo ID and name was never captured and never ended up available for misuse for questionable MO purchases or other activity.
Not trusting a retailer and their low-paid employees with protecting ID documents and their data is suspicious? Only in the world of suspect thinking at this point ... in a world where many innocent people have had problems with the UST/IRS because of misused ID being used to report income and activity that was not their own.
Recently I bought some Happy cards and used them to buy Home Depot cards at a local Home Depot store on one visit. On my second visit to the same store, the manager told me that wasn't allowed and asked me a lot of questions, which I answered honestly. Safeway had a discount on the cards and I showed my receipt from Safeway showing I had bought them myself with my credit card--but the manager told me that what I was doing was suspicious. Huh? A week later one of my friends went to a different HD store to do the same thing--management was called in AND HE WAS SHOWN MY PHOTO AND ASKED IF WE WERE WORKING TOGETHER! Apparently my photo was taken at the first store and circulated to all local stores.
This is the sort of thing that happens, and why it's important to be open and honest. Scurrying around pretending you don't have an ID doesn't look good--are you driving without a license?
WM has millions of people in its databases. It requires a photo ID for every money order transaction over $1K. It requires a photo ID whenever you cash a check. The WM app requires your DL for every bill payment. Providing your ID has about as much chance as causing a problem for you as being hit by a meteor as you walk to your car. It's an irrational fear. And by not doing the possible $4K in one transaction (using 4x$1k cards), you are forcing yourself to go to 4 different stores to avoid the reporting requirements, which is a godawful waste of your time and gas for no good reason. And it also makes you deal with four times as many CSRs and vastly increases your chances that one will find you suspicious, especially since you're avoiding the reporting requirements.
Your ID is not secret. As a landlord, I can find out lots about you, including your SSN, for a minimal fee by doing a credit check, saying you are trying to rent from me. There are millions of people who have access to such information.
https://creditcards.usnews.com/artic...-credit-report
gives a bunch of examples of legal reasons for getting your credit report. Do you really think that someone who wants your information couldn't get it?
There are better things to worry about if you want to worry.
Last edited by ogg; Nov 19, 2019 at 9:57 am
Nov 19, 2019, 10:41 am
#1533
Join Date: Oct 2004
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest, Marriott Rewards, Hilton Honors
Posts: 255
Nov 19, 2019, 10:44 am
#1534
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,740
Fwiw, even ACH can be reversed days later, but cash definitely cannot be, just sayin.
Nov 19, 2019, 11:40 am
#1535
Join Date: Oct 2004
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest, Marriott Rewards, Hilton Honors
Posts: 255
The 10 pcs of paper is cold hard cash versus the MO still has a chance being withdrawn by the seller. If you have been in this long enough you would have read about such DPs, rare but happened more than once when the store managers thought they were cops out to catch criminals. The worst part is you have no clue until your bank which took the deposit had that reversed days or weeks later...Fwiw, even ACH can be reversed days later, but cash definitely cannot be, just sayin.
Nov 19, 2019, 11:49 am
#1536
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
The WM SAR reports are internal and are rarely sent to law enforcement; they are NOT the SARs filed under the BSA. The problem isn't the IRS or the FBI or LE. The problem is that you're acting suspicious and that is going to cause you problems at other Wal-Marts. CSRs at one WM often get sent to other local WMs in their career. I was once banned from one WM because of suspected ML and when I went to other stores I was banned from them as well over a two year period because I was recognized.
Recently I bought some Happy cards and used them to buy Home Depot cards at a local Home Depot store on one visit. On my second visit to the same store, the manager told me that wasn't allowed and asked me a lot of questions, which I answered honestly. Safeway had a discount on the cards and I showed my receipt from Safeway showing I had bought them myself with my credit card--but the manager told me that what I was doing was suspicious. Huh? A week later one of my friends went to a different HD store to do the same thing--management was called in AND HE WAS SHOWN MY PHOTO AND ASKED IF WE WERE WORKING TOGETHER! Apparently my photo was taken at the first store and circulated to all local stores.
This is the sort of thing that happens, and why it's important to be open and honest. Scurrying around pretending you don't have an ID doesn't look good--are you driving without a license?
WM has millions of people in its databases. It requires a photo ID for every money order transaction over $1K. It requires a photo ID whenever you cash a check. The WM app requires your DL for every bill payment. Providing your ID has about as much chance as causing a problem for you as being hit by a meteor as you walk to your car. It's an irrational fear. And by not doing the possible $4K in one transaction (using 4x$1k cards), you are forcing yourself to go to 4 different stores to avoid the reporting requirements, which is a godawful waste of your time and gas for no good reason. And it also makes you deal with four times as many CSRs and vastly increases your chances that one will find you suspicious, especially since you're avoiding the reporting requirements.
Your ID is not secret. As a landlord, I can find out lots about you, including your SSN, for a minimal fee by doing a credit check, saying you are trying to rent from me. There are millions of people who have access to such information.
https://creditcards.usnews.com/artic...-credit-report
gives a bunch of examples of legal reasons for getting your credit report. Do you really think that someone who wants your information couldn't get it?
There are better things to worry about if you want to worry.
Recently I bought some Happy cards and used them to buy Home Depot cards at a local Home Depot store on one visit. On my second visit to the same store, the manager told me that wasn't allowed and asked me a lot of questions, which I answered honestly. Safeway had a discount on the cards and I showed my receipt from Safeway showing I had bought them myself with my credit card--but the manager told me that what I was doing was suspicious. Huh? A week later one of my friends went to a different HD store to do the same thing--management was called in AND HE WAS SHOWN MY PHOTO AND ASKED IF WE WERE WORKING TOGETHER! Apparently my photo was taken at the first store and circulated to all local stores.
This is the sort of thing that happens, and why it's important to be open and honest. Scurrying around pretending you don't have an ID doesn't look good--are you driving without a license?
WM has millions of people in its databases. It requires a photo ID for every money order transaction over $1K. It requires a photo ID whenever you cash a check. The WM app requires your DL for every bill payment. Providing your ID has about as much chance as causing a problem for you as being hit by a meteor as you walk to your car. It's an irrational fear. And by not doing the possible $4K in one transaction (using 4x$1k cards), you are forcing yourself to go to 4 different stores to avoid the reporting requirements, which is a godawful waste of your time and gas for no good reason. And it also makes you deal with four times as many CSRs and vastly increases your chances that one will find you suspicious, especially since you're avoiding the reporting requirements.
Your ID is not secret. As a landlord, I can find out lots about you, including your SSN, for a minimal fee by doing a credit check, saying you are trying to rent from me. There are millions of people who have access to such information.
https://creditcards.usnews.com/artic...-credit-report
gives a bunch of examples of legal reasons for getting your credit report. Do you really think that someone who wants your information couldn't get it?
There are better things to worry about if you want to worry.
Nov 19, 2019, 12:10 pm
#1537
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 317
I'm not talking about some corporate system for tracking people who don't give IDs. I'm talking about people. Keep refusing to show ID when requested and the CSRs will remember you. "There's that guy again--he doesn't show ID. Watch him." Some CSRs will tell the others to watch you, be unfriendly towards you and become a stickler for regulations, or simply refuse to do a transaction for you. It's a cancer. It spreads. I've seen it happen.
I'm not crazy--this may happen rarely and may never happen to YOU. But you gain nothing by acting suspicious. I have had clerks call managers as soon as some customers walk in the store. They alert security to watch them because they're known shoplifters or people who attempt various kinds of refund fraud. I've been asked to keep doing transactions (against the rules) so the CSR doesn't have to handle a particular person waiting in line. When you purposely avoid the reporting requirements, you are acting suspicious, period. What do you gain by doing that?
I'm not crazy--this may happen rarely and may never happen to YOU. But you gain nothing by acting suspicious. I have had clerks call managers as soon as some customers walk in the store. They alert security to watch them because they're known shoplifters or people who attempt various kinds of refund fraud. I've been asked to keep doing transactions (against the rules) so the CSR doesn't have to handle a particular person waiting in line. When you purposely avoid the reporting requirements, you are acting suspicious, period. What do you gain by doing that?
Nov 19, 2019, 12:43 pm
#1538
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,322
Get rid of the humans. The day that our robot overlords arrive to start selling MOs at WM can't come soon enough, IMHO.
Nov 19, 2019, 1:12 pm
#1539
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 1999
Posts: 24,153
I guess when you return anything that you purchased with a CC and they ask if you want ca$h or have it refunded to your CC, You probably say refund my CC please, after all if 10 pieces or 1 MO youd go for the 1, then here its 0 pieces of paper which is so much better then 1. Me Id grab the ca$h every time (and I cant remember not getting 100s or a couple of 50s at times when the MO didnt print from Wallys)
Nov 19, 2019, 1:28 pm
#1540
Join Date: Oct 2004
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest, Marriott Rewards, Hilton Honors
Posts: 255
??
I guess when you return anything that you purchased with a CC and they ask if you want ca$h or have it refunded to your CC, You probably say refund my CC please, after all if 10 pieces or 1 MO youd go for the 1, then here its 0 pieces of paper which is so much better then 1. Me Id grab the ca$h every time (and I cant remember not getting 100s or a couple of 50s at times when the MO didnt print from Wallys)
I guess when you return anything that you purchased with a CC and they ask if you want ca$h or have it refunded to your CC, You probably say refund my CC please, after all if 10 pieces or 1 MO youd go for the 1, then here its 0 pieces of paper which is so much better then 1. Me Id grab the ca$h every time (and I cant remember not getting 100s or a couple of 50s at times when the MO didnt print from Wallys)
Nov 19, 2019, 3:22 pm
#1544
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: UA-1K, MM, Hilton-Diamond, Marriott-Titanium
Posts: 4,423