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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 Mar 27, 2019, 10:54 am
  #391  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 18
Originally Posted by danpeake
You want to slide before they enter the amount per card. I believe you're mistaken about entering a total amount. I've never noticed that. Maybe they hit "total" or something to get to the payment screen but it's not as you seem to be describing.

You'll have to see what works at your WM. For more friendly ones that know what you're doing, you may just say "These are Mastercards...". For others, you may want to let it fail and say "How about if I swipe it first and see if that works." You gotta feel it out a bit...
Awsome thanks! Maybe I've been ordering MO wrong this whole time! Usually I start by saying "I'd like to get 2 MO's please each one for 799" They usually start typing that number in at this point. Then after the whole DL verification they start saying how would you like to pay. At this point I tell them 3 x whatever cards. Then they put that in the system and I slide. So I guess ill give your suggested method (the proper way) a try.
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 3:38 pm
  #392  
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Originally Posted by alert21
I recently moved to bay area from midwest.
< there is problem number 1.

You may have better weather, better Phở, etc, but you have worse MS since you left the promised land of the midwest.
westlaker, ChrisFlyer66 and in4tar like this.
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Old Mar 31, 2019, 12:24 pm
  #393  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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I've gotta find a better way to MS. I visited 3 stores in the Chicago area today and all 3 had broken money order machines. I only found this out by waiting in line behind 10 people sending/receiving Moneygram/Western Union, a process that seems to take forever.
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Old Mar 31, 2019, 3:35 pm
  #394  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
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Do Walmart issued Green Dot and Sunnies still work when purchasing MO’s. I haven’t tried them in awhile, as I’ve been sticking with metabank visas.
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Old Apr 1, 2019, 9:15 am
  #395  
 
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Originally Posted by Carl Christensen
< there is problem number 1.

You may have better weather, better Phở, etc, but you have worse MS since you left the promised land of the midwest.
The best Pho can be found around MSP. Not the left coast.
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Old Apr 1, 2019, 11:37 am
  #396  
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Originally Posted by neutralist
The best Pho can be found around MSP. Not the left coast.
;-)

I don't really know. I have had great Vietnamese food in Minnesota as well as when we visit SFO, but thanks for correction.
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Old Apr 1, 2019, 4:26 pm
  #397  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
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Originally Posted by neutralist
The best Pho can be found around MSP. Not the left coast.
Falls Church and Annandale, VA rule for everything Vietnam-related. Very large expatriate community there, enough to support whole shopping centers dedicated to Vietnamese food, groceries, etc. Anthony Bourdain -- who had a passion about Vietnamese cuisine -- included visit to Eden Center in his Washington, DC "No Reservations" episode.
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 8:16 am
  #398  
 
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Originally Posted by poisson
I've gotta find a better way to MS. I visited 3 stores in the Chicago area today and all 3 had broken money order machines. I only found this out by waiting in line behind 10 people sending/receiving Moneygram/Western Union, a process that seems to take forever.
You might be able to get a cash refund on the spot when that happens.
neutralist is offline  
Old Apr 3, 2019, 8:36 am
  #399  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 970
Originally Posted by neutralist


You might be able to get a cash refund on the spot when that happens.
Yup, when pigs fly.
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 9:21 am
  #400  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
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I was at my local WM on Saturday. Purchased 1 $998 MO, the register couldn't connect to the MO printer. After a couple fails, the CSR cancelled the transaction, the register refunded me $998.88 in cash. CSR gave me the cash, out I went.


Pretty sure I saw that pig flying by as I walked out.
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 9:30 am
  #401  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 889
Originally Posted by shadow520
I was at my local WM on Saturday. Purchased 1 $998 MO, the register couldn't connect to the MO printer. After a couple fails, the CSR cancelled the transaction, the register refunded me $998.88 in cash. CSR gave me the cash, out I went.


Pretty sure I saw that pig flying by as I walked out.
You can get cash when the MO stalls somewhere. Can't get cash if the machines were never up to start with.
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 2:35 pm
  #402  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,727
Originally Posted by wyogold
You can get cash when the MO stalls somewhere. Can't get cash if the machines were never up to start with.
the receipt tells them to give cash on time out mo. Can also happen with bp.
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 3:08 pm
  #403  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 970
Originally Posted by shadow520
I was at my local WM on Saturday. Purchased 1 $998 MO, the register couldn't connect to the MO printer. After a couple fails, the CSR cancelled the transaction, the register refunded me $998.88 in cash. CSR gave me the cash, out I went.


Pretty sure I saw that pig flying by as I walked out.
If the MO machines are broken (which was the OP's original complaint), you can't get cash back.

[redacted]

Last edited by cbn42; Apr 5, 2019 at 1:59 pm Reason: unduly personalized
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 4:22 pm
  #404  
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
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Originally Posted by ChrisFlyer66
I moved a newbie post and responses(about what cards to buy to use at Walmart, and about how to liquidate a OVVGC) to the New to Manufactured Spend thread:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manu...-2019-a-3.html
Hey Chris,

This link isn't working anymore. Just FYI.
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Old Apr 3, 2019, 5:01 pm
  #405  
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Originally Posted by farwest101
If the MO machines are broken (which was the OP's original complaint), you can't get cash back.

You simply have lousy reading comprehension as well as seeing things, apparently.
I only got ca$h when the csr didnt know that the printer was o/o/o thusly the reg took the money but nothing could print. I never ran into any csr who knew the printer was down and still let me do my biz

So it seems thats what happened with the other poster, the csr didnt know the printer was out and let them do their biz , only to find out no MO and thusly a ca$h refund

Last edited by craz; Apr 3, 2019 at 9:21 pm
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