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Buying Money Orders at Walmart (2019 - 2022)

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)

Old Jan 19, 2019, 10:09 pm
  #151  
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Join Date: Jan 2017
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Originally Posted by alanisrox69
well, I meant to buy MO...as the person that asked the question tried to do. I didn't specify MO, but that is what I meant since I was replying to that posted and this is "buying MO at WM" thread. Vanilla do not work (again, unless you do $49.12, which is useless).
Post #128, #129, #131 and #132 are all answered correctly. They told the person what to do with the VGC they got other than buying MOs at WM.

You simply made a rather bold statement "Vanilla cards don’t work at Walmart. read the wiki in this thread." You never mentioned about buying MO at WM.

Then your next reply "Some cards can be reloaded but not the ones I mentioned. the reloadable cards generally cannot be reloaded with a credit card. Only debit." You did not mention about MO, but instead the reloadable cards. Again this statement is not correct. We can load Serve with 3rd party AmEx CCs and get rewards.

I only suggest that we give correct info to folks just new to this. This is how we help each other....
RedSun is offline  
Old Jan 19, 2019, 10:27 pm
  #152  
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Originally Posted by alanisrox69
my stores also have that weird 1 MO transaction per day rule. No idea why or where it came from. I don't see any limits posted on Walmart.com. I could see it being implemented to prevent fraud though. My stores do not care if it's multiple MOs per transaction, but they just must be rung up in 1 transaction. I am unsuccessful at most stores splitting payment too. It's either one swipe or no swipes. Some employees don't even know how to split tender for a MO. Last thing I want is a yellow jacket coming over. I was only able to split payment once 3 x $200 for a $599.12 MO. Same store and clerk today I was shot down buying one $199.12 MO. He asked to see card. I showed him my real bank card (it has a chip), I discreetly swiped the VGC, entered PIN, and he said no you swiped the wrong card, your debit has a chip, it needs to be inserted. I had him void the transaction and I went on my way. I guess that store is burned for me, at least, for now!
This is how I see the MO at WM is near approaching its end game. There are so many people who are pushing the envelopes. More and more stores now check the cards. They know how to spot the card switching.....
RedSun is offline  
Old Jan 20, 2019, 5:45 am
  #153  
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: NY
Posts: 523
Originally Posted by mind
I was finally able to buy my first MO of $999.12 (total $1k).
Welcome to FT! It's obvious you did some research before asking questions and trying your first transaction.


Originally Posted by mind
I asked what the limit for an MO was and wanted to do another transaction and was told I can't do another transaction (no multiple transactions) by the manager. I have no idea what this means--is it store policy to allow only 1 transaction per customer, presumably per day? I hadn't ask as I didn't want to persist. I hadn't provided them my ID and the only cards involved were my Metabank gebits--they don't have my name or anything. I got the sense that had the transaction not already gone through by the cashier, the manager would have cancelled the transaction and tell me no gift cards allowed, but she didn't say that.
One transaction means just that. It could be 1, 2, 4, or 10 MO's as long as they all print on the same receipt. Each WM seems to have their own policy as to how many transactions are permitted and it can even vary by CSR in a given WM. All of the WM's by be implement this one transaction policy, but if you read this thread you'll see that other locations have more liberal rules. You didn't have to show your ID because your transaction was <1K. Also, It would help if you could add your state or region to your profile as we all benefit from data points.

Originally Posted by mind
Also, since I'm able to buy a $1k MO in my state, I suppose I can go for the "limit" of 2k (since 4 swipes of max of $500 GC by Metabank) and it would be for $1999.12, right
No, the highest MO amount you can purchase is 1K, so (999.12 x 2)+(.88 x 2) = 2K

Originally Posted by mind
Lastly, the $8k/24 hours limit--that's only possible if you due multiple transactions (since 4 swipes of max $500 GC = $2k max per transaction) and that would mean the limit for my WM is not $8k/24 hours but actually $2k/24 hours given what they've said, right?
Correct.
FrankMS is offline  
Old Jan 20, 2019, 8:14 pm
  #154  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 7
Originally Posted by alanisrox69
Home Depot, grocery stores (make sure they’re not vanilla), Staples/OfficeMax
Thank you for your assistance! I went to staples today and purchased a $100 gift card and chase has a 30% rebate at staples right now ($18 max). I was then able to successfully purchase a Walmart money order. I know pretty basic stuff for this group, but my first success! 😊
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Old Jan 20, 2019, 8:38 pm
  #155  
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 1,066
I thought chase was $19 max... I just happened to see it so did my 5 Chase personal card with the deal on the 200s Saturday (using split payment of course)
cdog999 is offline  
Old Jan 20, 2019, 8:45 pm
  #156  
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 7
Originally Posted by cdog999
I thought chase was $19 max... I just happened to see it so did my 5 Chase personal card with the deal on the 200s Saturday (using split payment of course)
yes, I’m sorry. You’re correct, i mistyped it. It’s $19 max.
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Old Jan 20, 2019, 8:51 pm
  #157  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Indianapolis
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WM is not the only place to get MO, check your grocery store, much less waiting,

time is money
satman40 is offline  
Old Jan 20, 2019, 9:45 pm
  #158  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,727
Limits: 10% of bp will prompt for kyc. One MO trans per cyst per day up to $8k and kyc starting at $1k. I have a photo but it won’t upload.
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Old Jan 22, 2019, 7:45 am
  #159  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: BOS
Posts: 550
Have not used $200 VGCs in a while, but have quite a few from the Staples promo. From what I recall WM has 5 cards/transaction maximum, so I am thinking I should be able to use 5 at a time to get $999.12 MO and cover $0.88 fee. Is this accurate or has something changed recently?
DiMAn0684 is offline  
Old Jan 22, 2019, 8:15 am
  #160  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 595
Originally Posted by DiMAn0684
Have not used $200 VGCs in a while, but have quite a few from the Staples promo. From what I recall WM has 5 cards/transaction maximum, so I am thinking I should be able to use 5 at a time to get $999.12 MO and cover $0.88 fee. Is this accurate or has something changed recently?
I suggest you (re)read the wiki. That answer hasn't changed in at least 4 years.
shadow520 is offline  
Old Jan 22, 2019, 10:14 am
  #161  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 103
One of my EXTREMELY MS-friendly WM locations implemented a new MO policy on 1/14/19 - the MC employees all know exactly what we're doing, and have always been very upfront in explaining how the daily limits / MO rules change whenever there is an update from their higher-ups.
Just curious if anyone else has seen these types of limits enforced at other stores (not implying these are the corporate, nationwide WM "rules", just mentioning that this is how my very friendly location is now running things):

Only one (1) "unreportable" MO transaction allowed per person, per day (<$1,000, no ID check required)
Unlimited "reportable" MO transactions allowed per person, per day ($1,000 or greater; enter ID info in system)
$8k Maximum daily limit still applied to all of the above


I had to do some quick math on my feet when I was trying to unload all my OD $200 VGCs last week when they sprung this on me - required me to mix in some $500s with the $200s in order to push some transactions over the reportable limit, instead of being able to liquidate via several $799.12 MOs as I was previously able to.
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Old Jan 22, 2019, 10:46 am
  #162  
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wish I had your WM
cuthroat and golfr like this.
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Old Jan 22, 2019, 11:40 am
  #163  
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: DFW
Posts: 683
Originally Posted by mind
Lastly, the $8k/24 hours limit--that's only possible if you due multiple transactions (since 4 swipes of max $500 GC = $2k max per transaction) and that would mean the limit for my WM is not $8k/24 hours but actually $2k/24 hours given what they've said, right?
In your case, if paying with $500 VGC's your limit at that store is actually $2k per calendar day (unless you are buying $6k per day at other stores as well). This is better than $2k/24 hours because you don't have to make your purchase tomorrow at a later time that your purchase today.
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Old Jan 22, 2019, 11:51 am
  #164  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: BOS
Posts: 550
Originally Posted by shadow520
I suggest you (re)read the wiki. That answer hasn't changed in at least 4 years.
Thx for pointing that out, forgot about wiki
DiMAn0684 is offline  
Old Jan 23, 2019, 5:45 pm
  #165  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 299
Originally Posted by RedSun
This is how I see the MO at WM is near approaching its end game. There are so many people who are pushing the envelopes. More and more stores now check the cards. They know how to spot the card switching.....
I feel the endgame will be: banning the heavy hitters..8k per day.. The others will probably be limited to 2k or 4k across all WM per day...maybe. This is why they are taking our info above 1k.
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