Good morning everyone, I’m sure everyone knows about the Target memo (thanks Bill!), but if not, here it is below. I’m not going to lie, this sucks big time. I had 4 Redbird Cards (myself, mom, dad, and brother) and Redbird was involved with 95% of all my MS activities. With the demise of debit card reloads, there is a mass exodus to Bluebird and Serve. Not me. I’m not switching to Bluebird or Serve. There are no Walmarts within walking distance (like my local Target) and I have no interest in driving to Walmart.
With that said, I unfortunately just received my $1,800 VGC order from Staples last night. Since I will not be unloading these at Walmart or Target, I need to be a bit more creative. I still have a Square card reader, 1 working PayPal account, and a Google Wallet account which I can use to liquidate funds (at a ~3% fee). Paying the fee is not a long term MS strategy, but it will suffice in the short term to convert my $1,800 in VGCs back into cash.
Moving forward, my only MS will involve my 3 Nationwide Buxx cards. That is a cool $3,000/month, which is fine for me (for now). I don’t have any credit card minimum spends to work on, just slowly working my way toward the Club Carlson free night certificates on my US Bank Club Carlson personal and business cards.
As for the Discover It ApplePay promo, I need to add up my current charges and see where I stand. I think I am around $4,000 spent thus far. Like I wrote in these posts, Discover It + ApplePay + Walgreens = 22% Cash Back for BART Clipper Card Reloads and a Q4 Credit Card Category Strategy: Do Way Better than 5% Cash Back at Amazon, I can always reload my Clipper Card (not exactly sexy, but it works), buy Amazon and Southwest Airlines GCs, and use them over the next few months. Christmas is coming up “soon” and I can do some Christmas shopping there too.
Money orders? I’ll pass, I don’t want to get involved with money orders.
What are your Redbird plans? Fill out the survey or leave a comment below.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone.
what is wrong with the money order strategy?
Nothing is wrong with money orders, I just never buy them.
Good, I like that they’re discouraged. Gives someone like me free reign to rack up MS volumen well into the 6 figures with little competition.
Keep MSing all day/night :)
with my mind on my MOs and my MOs on my mind. I do hear cashiers comment how other people in my area do the same, but we all seem to have independently come up with convincing explanations so they let us do almost limitless amounts.
Pretty silly comment. There are so many factors that go into it, including huge YMMV in regards to your location. Are there situations out there where you could capitalize on MO more so than others? Of course. You could say that about almost any MS strategy though.
But hey, it gives someone like me less eyes on other diversified MS options that don’t include jeopardizing banking accounts. Kind of like being the trailer of a guy going 80 mph in the fast lane; they’re more likely to get pulled over because all eyes are on them.
Whose eyes? If you’ve got a secret method that no one knows about, like you claim, then the alleged “eyes” would have never looked at you. I’ve been doing heavy MS just fine for 3 years, thank you.
The comment refers to just blanket statement that it’s unsafe and risky, which discourages many from even trying or exploring the options in their city. All MS is inherently risky so should no one try it? In the end I’m having the last laught. RB was supposed to be very safe…no “evil eye” from the bank. And look what happens. POOF in one day all these sheep are sitting on stacks of useless GCs with no clue about alternate methods.
You’re completely missing my point. MO are inherently more risky than other options. When you’re pushing 6 figures you’re going to attract more attention. Period. While this goes for many MS options, MO are a notorious money laundering vehicle.
I wrote that it’s a silly comment because in general, the average reader should know there are dangers with MO. We shouldn’t assume said reader has read about MS and knows MS 101. Yes, that’s their responsibility. However, I felt it was prudent to provide a dissenting opinion to the one you provided for those who are new to the game.
And what’s with the “last laugh” comment”? I’ve been off the RB bandwagon for months now but I’m not happy debit loads ended and calling people sheep is flat out bitterly ignorant. Low hanging fruit attracts everyone, the novice and the expert alike. Why are we sheep for using an easy to MS tool? To say RB was supposed to be very safe makes me laugh. Anyone who puts for the the due diligence would know it was an if – not when – RB would close. But it’s also not a bank account and is easy to close and doesn’t impact your Chexsystems.
I agree people should have alternate methods I too agree you should look locally. I also think it’s wise to avoid dabbling in MS that can get bank accounts closed and money locked up for months while you’re audited for fraud.
MS is all about experiementing. Everyone should go out and test the limits they’re comfortable with. I’ve been doing extremely heavy MO volume with my long standing WF account and it’s been a breeze :) I tested it first back in 2012 to see how it would work, and I have backup plans with other banks if it fails one day.
Simple as that. MOs are the best and easiest method period. Just need to ramp up slowly and have contingency plans….like with all MS.
PS. I have several friends, and know several MS “colleagues” in nearby towns who do same thing as me. MO scheme is actually the most reliable one if you find the right bank, ramp up slowly, and have a backup plan, but from what I’ve been reading these prepaid cards have a higher failure rate than what I do. Maybe it’s location dependent but worth investigating and attempting for everyone. Worst case your bank acct gets shut down, boo hoo. Feds won’t be there or anything like that. I’ve heard of it happen..its very minor blip on the radar.
If you honestly think MO are the best and easy way to MS there really is no point in continuing this discussion. We can simply agree to disagree. As for your MS colleagues, you said it – in nearby towns. Again, hugely YMMV and absolutely regional dependent.
As for the “boo hoo” comment about getting shut down, I’d bet that you and your “colleagues” haven’t had that happen to you. How about bank account closures and black marks on your chexsystems? You think you won’t catch the eye of the IRS in the meantime? Money laundering isn’t taken lightly and banks/IRS have a hard-on for anyone they suspect might be doing so.
Hi Rick,
I buy MO too at WM. May I ask where did you buy MO since some WM locations do not allow to buy MO using GC. In my area there are two WM but only one let me buy MO. My friends told me all WM in OC, CA they can’t buy MO with GC.
I’ll go a step beyond what Grant wrote. There are definitely dangers of going the MO route. A lot more diversification of bank accounts and time required are a few of the downsides to MO.
If you have to ask that question then perhaps you may want to do a bit more research. I’m not telling you not to go the MO route, but as with all MS related endeavors, you need to know the full spectrum of possible outcomes from partaking in that method of MS.
I couldn’t have said it any better myself :)
We have few Walmarts around here, but dealing with Walmart is different story
Totally understand and agree with you about Walmart.
LIke all great things, they must come to an end….no worries, as the next big thing will surface. The ‘game’ is a moneymaker for everyone, including the retailers.
I hope so. Got any great ideas Oz?
Hey Grant. I’m curious how you plan to unload the Buxx. Mind sharing?
Citi over the phone bill payments
is it true that phone bill payments work exclusively with Citi credit cards only? If you can bear the lines, postal money orders at $1.35 each may be worth meeting MS bonus requirements. I live in SF and it’s a great excuse to visit our diverse districts (via post offices).
I’m in SF for work, but have never bought a postal money order.
Why not just pay the citi with your regular visas direct?
I like to store my Buxx cards on file with Citi, but I might try to get rid of a few $300 VGCs that way.
Paying citi with Nationwide bbuxx never works for me. How do you do it?
It always works for me, I’m not sure why it doesn’t work for you. Your babe abs address match your Citi Card, right?
you are right, the address was little different. thanks.
Glad you got it to work :)
If I try to unload nationwide buxx to serve, is that a purchase or advance? in another word, would it work for $800 or $200? thanks in advance.
I’m not sure, but you can only load Serve up to $200/day online. Are you referring to in-store reloads?
Yes, in-store reload.
i was about to go to target. thanks!
Feel free to go to Target, but leave your VGCs at home.
Assume TGT is hard-coded for no GC’s?
If so, this indeed blows.
Unloading $10K/month from grocery stores(2X on AMEX PRG was 20,000/month) was a huge SkyMiles(insert laugh here) generator.
6 months was enough for a RT to Europe in business. Don’t laugh, it works.
Do whatever works for you :)
Yep, hard-coded. :(
You paid gift card fees of about $700 or so I’m assuming for that spend + a good amount of your time and driving. Not a bad deal for RT to Europe in business IF you were going to pay for it anyway. I think it’s funny how you say, “Don’t laugh, it works”, like we novices here don’t know better. LOL.
I was kidding. I know many roll their eyes at Delta. I do as well.
BTW, retail on those fares were over $5000/per. And no, I would not have paid for them so the truth is, as usual, in the middle.
Can you just do cash back anywhere with these cards I have $2k worth.
Cash back anywhere? What do you mean?
I’m exactly in the same situation – have 5 Redbirds, no interest in going to Walmart (though I still maintain 1 Bluebird for the physical checks ability, but I only load it online). Big hit to my MSing, though NW Buxx, giftcards.com, and Chargesmart may be my go-tos for the time being, but all except NW Buxx have not-insignificant fees.
I think Nick is asking if he can just use the visa gift cards straight up instead of credit cards to pay for everyday things. The answer is yes; that’s exactly what these cards were designed for ;) They were definitely not meant to be loaded onto prepaid cards and cashed out.
When NW Buxx dies, I’ll be totally screwed :/
When I would reload at Target I would always get a question come up that asked if i wanted cash back. Can I say pay at say safeway and just take out cash from the card?
You can try, but I think each store sets their own cash back limit (probably under $100).
I have a bluebird but have not loaded any debit cards for a while because they are hard to acquire(paying for them with credit card). If I had an easy source, I would do it more.
VGCs are easy to get online.
Buy VGC at Simon Mall, safe and cheap 3.95 for $500 GC. If you can sign up as business you can buy $1000GC
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Head up I was not able to add Carlson biz to as funding source with Nationwide. Didn’t try personal. I am currently doing Ink with auto reloads.
Hmm, I’m not sure why Club Carlson Biz would not work with NW Buxx.
I spoke with a customer service agent and it failed because “transaction type not allowed” so I decided to move on. I thought it was a fraud alert at first since it declined.
To clarify this was a US Bank agent not Nationwide.
Thank you for the datapoint, Bobby.
Great while the ride lasted. time to switch over to Serve. Redbird just made things too easy. I already have one Serve card cuz I believe in preparing for the unexpected. Will switch over two other redbirds to Serve and the third redbird is becoming a Bluebird. Unlike most other areas my walmart ATM is always working and usually very lonely. Only major downside I see here is that I can no longer unload onevanilla so gonna have to spend that extra dollar and buy GCs @ grocery stores.
You’re great Raul. Want to get that out of the way, first. Now if you could, please provide the full and complete address of the WM location that has the working ATM along with directions from the nearest airport. Remember, it feeds your soul to help your fellow man. Charity is love in action!
Haha yes. Come on down to sunny Fresno Ca then Kent C. We have it all down here. Wineries, Zoos, Yosemite and sequoia national parks and two wall Mary’s with working ATM. That’s right I said 2 walmart w working ATMs.
Raul, I’m in Fresno too. Write me, would love to swap stories. Pridesites at hotmail com
Hi Grant: Can you clarify about the debit cards–can I still load RedBird using a bank debit card? Is that considered “cash” ? Thank you.
Only paper money cash can be used, no plastic allowed.
Why can the one vanilla cards not be loaded onto the serve cards?
Walmart is blocking those VGCs. I don’t know why.
You can load ovgc up to $49.99 per transaction. So it’s pretty lame. But if you desperately need to liquidate…
I’m not that desperate…yet
Heads up. Just logged into my Redcard account to pay a final bill and be done with the account. Was able to get into my account and all the way to the bill pay portion. When I went to enter my PIN, curiously, the PIN number showed. When I clicked to pay, it told me I had an invalid PIN. Happened multiple times. Called customer service. Tried everything. Then we went to tech support. Guy sheepishly told me they are having a system-wide problem with PINs and they don’t expect it fixed until 3 to 5 biz days from now. So in terms of zeroing the account…………..
Unreal. I called back and heard the same thing from another tech support guy.
Hi Mike, I moved money from 3 Redbird cards to my main Redbird account this morning and entered a PIN 3 times. It worked fine at 8am PT this morning.
Hi Grant. I am trying to liquidate the last of my Visa gift cards via google wallet. I am unable to add the funds to my account. Has GW shut down prepaid gift cards?
You cannot add a VGC to your Google Wallet account? I haven’t tried any of my VGCs yet, so I’m not sure what the problem is.
I live in the same city as you and the nearest Wally is not GC friendly, the Kate is very hit and miss(and only going to get worse). Sad times.
Arg, that is bad. I will be in Boise, Idaho this weekend, so I will try to the Walmart in town.
Has anybody tried to load PIN enabled Visa/Master Gift Card at any Walmart Neighborhood Market? Do they have KATE like the regular Walmart and if their cashier register has authority to process BlueBird/Server Reload? Thanks.
I think some Walmart Neighborhood Markets do have KATE, but I haven’t been to any.
Hi Grant,
I just started using BB at Walmart again with Kate & cashier after switching RB back to BB. It is not too bad and more convenience since it is near my home. The MO at Walmart is getting harder. After buying 2 MO $1000 each, they told me the third one they need my ID and SS#. They also told me if I buy MO in one time, it is OK I may buy 2-3 MO but not many times in a day. I do not want to buy many VGC at once so I always buy 2 x $500 VGC then after went through with BB or MO I will buy again so the maximum I get stuck is $1000. With new policy I will buy only $1000 MO once a day. I also just got the 2nd BB, therefore it is enough for me MS for a while. I may switch the 3rd RB to BB tomorrow. AMEX ships BB very quick.
Thanks for the update Hoang. I closed my Redbird cards, now I need to open my Serve Cards.
Greetings- After all of the convenient Redbird features have been whittled away (direct load from credit card, then GC and debit (cash only now)… I have gone back to the Serve Card.
I went to my WM Neighborhood Market and successfully loaded my Serve card with $1000 in GC. But further uploads were declined. I checked the limits section on Serve and it was the same as Redbird – $2500 per day and $5000 per month. I have been loading with GC up to those limits on Redbird till the recent change but it has been a while since I’ve done Serve reloads.
Is there some underlying $1,000 cap on Serve loads?
Perhaps at the Neighborhood Market vs a regular WM?
I thought I had loaded my Serve with more than $1000/day long ago at the regular WM.
Perhaps I am getting Serve and Redbird limits mixed up?
BTW – We will probably keep my wife’s Redbird and transfer money over from Serve so she can get the 5% discount when she shops at Target in the store or online.
Hmm, I would try to load more money to your Serve Card. You didn’t do anything wrong. You should be able to load $2500/day.
I know the Walmart near my house you can only load $1500 at one time then you have to walk away for 10 minutes. One time the guy before me loaded money in then I loaded the machine locked and said I have to wait for Associate to unlock. You can load more by go to cashier.
I’m not sure if he was using a kiosk or reloading at the customer service center.
I went the the nearby WM Neighborhood Mkt Cust Service desk and successfully loaded 2x $500 Visa GC (metabank) and then tried a 3rd $500 Visa GC (metabank) that did not go thru. I came back 2 hrs later and tried that same card at the CS Desk and it did not go thru.
Does WM Neighborhood Mkt use a different system or have different limits?
That is a great question. I would think that the neighborhood markets would have the same reloading limits, but maybe that is not the case.
You can load $1999.99 and then wait unless if the extra penny is worth the extra wait…
Hi Grant,
How about Walmart in OC area? If I remember correctly, you used to load at Walmart in OC
I haven’t been to a Walmart in OC in 8+ months.
By the way, it is a little more expensive but it works: my friend just bought $1000 MO at post office with 2 $500 VGC and $1.65 fees. He hit the $5000 limit with BB so he bought MO to get rid of 2VGC
That’s a good idea buying money orders.
That seems silly to keep a redbird fit the discount and inconvenient. Transfer money etc. Get a debit red card and the money comes out of your bank account and you get the discount. Then you free up another $5k ms a month. I load $2500 a day no problem. Are you loading $500 or $1000 at a time? Just do $500. What gift card are you loading with? Sometimes the gc just don’t work rarely though a debits, even though they have the pin…
If you can easily max out several Serve monthly reload limits, I would probably convert Redbird to Serve. If not, you can probably keep a Redbird Card open for the 5% discount and extended return period.
I’ve heard that many WM in the Bay Area enforce explicit instructions / store policy not to let customers load Bluebird or Serve with PIN enables I’ve heard that many WM in the Bay Area enforce explicit instructions / store policy not to let customers load Bluebird or Serve with PIN enables VGC/MGC at Register or Money Center. And there is NO KATE in this area. Is that still the case?
I think so. I haven’t been to any Walmart stores in the Bay Area for 6+ months.
I live in SOCAL and usually stop by the local WM automotive register to reload. Separate entrance and the line is usually short / even non-existent. Cashiers there are very pleasant.
I recently tried the WM Neighborhood Market which is closer (only about 1/2 mile from the house) with some limited success (per my recent posts to this thread).
Jayson- That’s great info. I did not know about the debit redcard. Switching the RB to Serve today!
I have been successfully using $500 MB Visa GC loading 3-4 at the Auto Section register at my local WM. This was my first use at the WM Neighborhood Mkt.