UPDATE 6/20/14: Do not use OVGCs or VGCs at Walmart. Use other gift cards from other banks.
Load Bluebird with Gift Cards at Walmart
To load Bluebird with a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express Gift Card, you will need:
- Bluebird Card
- Walmart Store
- Gift card with a PIN (most gift cards have PINs, but not all)
You will have to experiment with different gift cards to find out which ones have PINs. I have the best luck with Vanilla Visa Gift Cards from office supply stores. If you do not have a Walmart close by, please read Load Bluebird with Gift Cards without Walmart for an alternative way to load your Bluebird Card with gift cards. Assuming you have all 3 things listed above, go to your local Walmart and find the Money Center (near the customer service department).
Give your Bluebird Card to the representative and tell him/her how much you want to load. Bluebird has a $1,000 daily reload limit and a $5,000 monthly reload limit. The monthly reload limit is on a 30 day moving time period. Slide your gift card though the credit card reader. If you see a small yellow box on the bottom of the screen that says something like Alternate Options, click that button really fast. Then click the Debit box on the screen. Now you will enter your PIN (hopefully the PIN works). If your PIN works, a message will say Approved! on the screen and a receipt will automatically print. If your PIN does not work, the screen will say Payment Not Approved.
To minimize the chances of getting a declined reload, read Activate a Gift Card and Create a PIN (before visiting Walmart). Some gift card websites will let you create a PIN online. Some gift cards have PINs that can be created the first time you use them for debit. Also, some gift cards use the last 4 digits of the gift card number as the PIN.
I always load the full amount of the gift card onto my Bluebird Card. For example, if I had a $500 Visa Gift Card, I would load $500 onto my Bluebird Card. If I had 2 $500 gift cards, I would load them in 2 separate transactions.
Also, you can search for Walmart ATMs here.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
Pingback: Update: Buy $500 Chase Gift Cards with Chase Credit Cards for no Fee | Travel with Grant
any reason a visa gift card from walmart shouldn’t load to bluebird? I believe it has a PIN, but I’m asking because they have their own visa gc system.
You should be fine. Just enter the pin on the credit card reader.
Grant can you still buy GC at walmart and load them to your BB card? Also does walmart sell chase visa gift cards that I can load to my BB card through walmart?
I don’t know if Walmart sells Visa/MasterCard gift cards. I think some do and some don’t. Likewise some will let you use a credit card, some won’t. There is no consistency.
I tried to buy 500 dollar vanilla visa gift card with paypal at office depot didnt let me said cash only I want to buy money orders but gift cards dont work even if u have pin n visa
do u know if u can do it with visa gc at walmart
Yes you should be able to purchase a debit card at Walmart with a credit card.
How do I load. my permanent. bluebird card online?
If you have a Vanilla Reload Card, follow this tutorial: http://travelwithgrant.com/bluebird/vanilla-reload-card-load-bluebird/
Just found your great advice here. Do you know if Office Depot still selling $500 Visa GCs and accepting CC (Chase Ink) as payment? I want to load the Visa GCs I got from Office Depot to Bluebird. Do you know I need to setup PIN before I can load to Bluebird?
Thanks.
Good afternoon Rookiemiles, Office Depot stopped selling the $500 gift cards, but they still $200 gift cards which you can purchase with your Ink Bold.
I call the number on the back of the gift card and there is usually a way to add a PIN to the card. Don’t buy the $200 AMEX gift cards at Office Depot since they do not have PINs.
Hi,
New to these GC and Bluebird things. As I read from somewhere else I cloud buy Vanilla reload card ($3.95 fee) to load it onto Bluebird online by myself. (Correct me if I am wrong)… If that’s true, why would we need to buy Visa GCs at Walmart and ask Walmart staff to load it for us?
Alternately, wouldn’t be going to Office Depot to buy Visa GCs (Earn 5x bonus for Ink) and load it to Bluebrid online at by myself?
Thanks for your advice!
Depending on where you live in the US, some people have access to Walmart but not CVS, and vice versa. I agree that Vanilla Reload Cards from CVS are the easiest way. I am afraid that one day CVS will stop letting people use credit cards to buy Vanilla Reload Cards, then you will have to load gift cards onto Bluebird at Walmart.
Grant, you get the status of “prophet”. :-) That one day is here…. CVS stores around the country are now blocking purchase of VRC’s with CC. And you’re the only site I’ve found that shows us how to load the Visa Gift cards via Walmart to bluebird account. Be grateful if you could update this (esp. with the Vanilla Prepaid Visa GC — oh the confusion)…. with visuals. Thank you!
Thanks Will, I will update this post later tonight.
Gotta agree with Will. I had a good thing with CVS, now I’m trying to figure out the debit card/Wallyworld thing.
This is super great! I now understand this better after reading your answer to my last post on another page.
Thanks
AH
Glad to help. Let me know if you have any other questions.
can other gift cards be transferred to Bluebird, like department store gift cards, anyone had any experience ?
Good question Elaine, I haven’t tried but I’m 99% sure only Visa, MC, Amex, and Discover gift cards can be loaded to Bluebird.
Does this still work as of now? I recalled couple months back when I tried to reload using Chase visa gift cards they worked but couple of them started to display a warning that gift cards are not allowed to be reloaded. Eventually the machine requested customer service to come and supposed to block it as well but luckily they just ignored the messages and just bypassed the warning and let me continue on with my business. Not sure if this software update applies to only Chase gift cards or gift cards in general. Are people able to do it without any hiccups as of now?
If heard stories similar to that. I think it depends on which Walmart you go to. I’ve been to a few Walmarts and had no problems using various gift cards with PINs.
so you never got any warnings or anything while using the moneycenter ATM? i did it in the past and never had problems but last time which was couple months ago i tried they started showing warning signs while trying to do the transaction that reloading gift cards is not allowed. so not sure whether it was just the chase gift cards or all gift cards with PIN
I’m really not sure. I have only been to one Walmart that has the ATM and it worked fine for me, but I wasn’t using Chase gift cards that time.
I just bought a Vanilla Visa Debit Giftcard (with pin) and can’t get it to load to BB at the kiosk or the customer service desk. They swiped my BB card, keyed in the amount, had me swipe my Visa card, enter my pin, and then it declined.
I’m not sure what went wrong. You did exactly what I did in the past.
Hi Grant,
I am not able to find Vanilla reloads card at CVS in my area. But I do see Vanilla Visa gift card value $25 -500 per card with $4.95 fee. Can I buy those Vanilla Visa gift card says $500 x 2 and load it to my BlueBird card? If yes, can I load it online myself or I have to bring them in to Walmart to load? Do I have to load $100 per day otherwise there is fee for loading?
Thanks.
Yes, you can buy those gift cards at CVS. You can load them to your Bluebird at Walmart or online for free. You can load $100 per day and $1,000 per month to you Bluebird card online. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks but how do I load Vanilla gift cards to Bluebird online? And does the money I load to bluebird has expiration? Or I can use the fund to pay bills or any AMEX logo merchant in any time ?
Just wondering what is the difference between Vanilla gift card and Vanilla reload card in terms of loading to bluebird? They seems like work the same can load online myself or at Wal-Mart….
Thanks.
I haven’t loaded a gift card to Bluebird online myself, but there should be a way to add funds online and for you to enter a gift card.
Vanilla Reload Cards are entirely different and are loaded via http://www.vanillareload.com.
I tried today, for the second time in two weeks, to load $200 Vanilla Visa Gift Cards (from Office Depot purchased with a Chase Ink CC) onto my Bluebird Card. I have been to a few Walmarts in the Northern NJ area, and cannot find a MoneyCenter ATM machine like the one you depict.
in your blog, so I am dependent on the well meaning people behind the cash register or at the customer service areas. Needless to say, my experiences have not born fruit. The VVGC is accepted in debit mode, but the receipt that prints out, only about half an inch tall, says that the card was rejected.
The register person says that they are doing ‘action 70,’ which I believe is the correct terminology.
I wonder…..I have already loaded $5000 with Vanilla Reload cards for the calendar month. Could that preclude me from using the VVGCs?
I have CVS’s nearby, but I was hoping to do more than their $5k limit with the Vanilla Reloads.
I have been successful with the $100 a day online load (beyond the $5k Vanilla Visa limit), but that’s a tad tedious.
Any thoughts?
(Yes, my wife has a card already.)
Thank you very much,
Orrin Davis
It sounds like you have reached the $5,000 monthly limit on your Bluebird Card. Since you wife already has a Bluebird Card (I’m assuming you have already maxed that out online too). I would recommend the GoBank Card, read about it here: http://travelwithgrant.com/bluebird/go-bank-successful-experiments/
It loads the same way as Bluebird at Walmart and has Bill Pay too.
Are you still having luck buying VR’s at CVS with Amex Gift Cards? I have been out of the game for a bit but now that there is a 2% rebate again I am ordering some
My order just got denied by Amex for some reason. I bought a $2,000 gift card with an Amex credit card. I’m not sure CVS will accept the gift card, but I have a back up method (Amex Target Card) if they don’t take it.
I have been declined four times in the past week with different amounts and cards…
Have you added PINs to the gift cards before you went to the store? When you slide your card, the will be a small yellow box that appears for only a second, make sure to press that yellow button and select Debit then enter your PIN. It has always worked, but you have to be fast. If you don’t press the yellow button fast enough, the machine will decline your card and then the cashier will look at you and be disappointed.
this is on the online site to buy the Amex Gift cards.
Good to know. Thank you Judy.
What do you gain buying amex gift cards at %2 discount? The $10 you get back is eaten up on the $13 it costs for activation and shipping.
looks like target no longer has a re loadable card
I’ve seen the card at a few Target stores, but not all. They are hard to find. If you have more than 1 Target store nearby, see if the other stores have them.
Can I use my American Express to put funds on my American Express bluebird card at Walmart? Or can I buy a money pack using my American Express and then load the bluebird with a money pack? Thanks!!
You will probably need to use your AMEX card to buy VRCs at CVS. That should be the easiest way. Depending on where you live, other retailers might sell VRCs as well.
Any idea if you can you use Wal-Mart gift cards to load bluebird?
I don’t think you can but I’ve never tried.
Grant,.I took some merchandise back to walmart but couldnt find my reciept so they gave me my money back through a walmart gift card..Is there any possible way I can get this to my bluebird card?
You can try to buy a Visa or MC gift card and load to Bluebird. Otherwise you could sell your Walmart gift card online.
What gift cards will work? I guess it dont matter as long as I get one that requires a pin #, correct? Once I unload gift card to bluebird can I re use the gift card?Just hate spending the $4.95 everytime I need a visa or MC gift card.
I’ve never bought a gift card at Walmart, but I think all Visa and MC gift cards will work. You can probably buy restaurant gift cards or just hang onto the gift card for when you actually need to buy something from Walmart.
Can you buy a visa or MC with a walmart gift card?
I’ve never tried but it might be possible.
If your Wal-Mart card has a PIN, try loading it directly onto Bluebird. Worth a shot.
I am moving to Canada and want to continue the vrc/bluebird system there. Do you know if its possible. I called walmart and they have money centers in all their stores. CVS only exists in the USA. Where can I buy visa gift cards or vrc (that could load to bluebird) with a CC in Canada? Thank you
You should be able to buy Visa and MasterCard gift cards from several stores in Canada, then load those gift cards onto your Bluebird Card at a Walmart.
Do you know specific stores? and if they let you buy with a credit card? like CVS
I have no idea which stores sell gift cards in Canada, but I’m 99% sure they will let you use a credit card.
After loading $200 MC GC with pin onto BB at WM, how long until it should show up on your BB online?
It should show up instantly. All my reloads show up instantly.
So easy. Handed the BB card to MoneyCenter person (they have no ATM at our walmart). Said I want to load from Visa gift card. She asked the amount, and she keyed it in. I hit approve amount. It then asked me for my pin (a must). I entered pin and voila, approved. Did second card right away and instantly loaded $998.00 (998 is because these cards make you use your first purchase to establish a pin—bought a candy bar with each card, prior to going to walmart)
You should be able to set a PIN the first time you use the gift card at the money center. No need to make a purchase before then.
None of the brilliant cashiers at walmart can use the gift card as a debit card – it keeps coming up as a credit card, and of course, therefore not valid for bluebird. Any suggestions to help them in scanning the gift card as a debit (I have registered and added a pin, but doesn’t help them).
When you swipe the gift card, there is a little yellow dialog box at the bottom of the screen. Press that right away as soon as you see it, them click debit, enter your PIN, and cluck no cash back. That should work for you.
When you slide your debit card, there will be a little yellow box that appears. Press that right away, select debit, enter your PIN, select no cash back, and you are good to go.
did this happen when they put in “action 70” (the code). I had the same experience also, but don’t recall seeing the little yellow box ya’ll have been talking about. Maybe I just missed it…..
If the card you are using is a true debit card (not a gift card that you added a PIN to), you will not see the yellow box. But it works just the same.
Grant, I had a way to convert a walmart gift card to a visa prepaid card before christmas.I went back after christmas to convert a $80 store credit to that card and they dont carry that particular card anymore.They completey removed that gift card station after christmas :(.I tried like 3 cards that was simular and it didnt work.Any ideas on what card to look for that I could get this to work?Was wanting to use the $80 to pay my cell phone bill.
Thanks in advance!!
I’m not sure Spanky, I’ve never used Walmart store credit or a gift card to buy a gift card in Walmart. Can you use the gift card online at Walmart’s website?
are you registering PINs for each card before you do this, or punching in a random number? I ask because today I had trouble at a walmart. Normally, it would reject the transaction on the first try, but that would register whatever PIN I put in. Second attempt, money loads. Today was a no go at my local WM. Using Vanilla Visa GC $200, btw.
Yes I register a PIN 24+ hours before I go to Walmart. It takes a few hours for the PIN to be set.
Hey Grant just wanted to let everyone know about a way I’ve been using gift cards really successfully recently: gas points at grocery stores. At my local grocery store you get 20 cents off per gallon of gas for every $100 of stuff you buy. This includes gift cards. So getting a $500 Visa gift card (with a $5.95 fee) will get you $1 off per gallon of gas. I saved a little over $15 on my last fill up because of this. I fill up like 2-3 times per month, so this is a nice amount of savings every month. So even if you use a 1% cash back card, you’ll still come out ahead. I have been using 5% grocery cards and/or sign up bonus spends with great success. I of course later take the gift card to walmart and load it onto my bluebird account to pay the bill with.
A lot of the other grocery stores in the area don’t allow you to buy gift cards towards their gas program, so I’m just gonna keep doing this until my store changes their policy. Just wanted to let you and your readers know of another easy way to save some money with bluebird. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for sharing Syed. A few groceries stores that my family goes to have fuel point programs, but we can never get the gas station to the recognize grocery store loyalty card or phone number. Do you go inside to make it work or just do it from the pump?
Someone asked you this question: Post authorOctober 4, 2013 at 7:29 pm
Yes, you can buy those gift cards at CVS. You can load them to your Bluebird at Walmart or online for free. You can load $100 per day and $1,000 per month to you Bluebird card online. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Reply ↓
New to BB October 5, 2013 at 1:01 am
Thanks but how do I load Vanilla gift cards to Bluebird online?
You say you’ve never done it. I am new to this and just bought the vanilla visa card as I can’t get the reload ones. I can’t seem to know how to load it on my blue bird account. I tried adding funds and I put my card number but it can’t do it. So I am stuck. I went to walmart and I tried to do as you said, but there was no yellow box. It was an ATM machine. Is that the same as the machines you are talking about? I slide my visa card and it ask me if I want to withdraw, check balance or transfer. I clicked transfer and then it asked me how much I want to transfer. I typed $500 then it asked me something else, I can’t remember but it’s asking from a credit card i think. whatever it is it doesn’t let me slide my blue bird card to load it to so is it possible the atm is a different machine than the one your saying.
How do I use my 2 x $500 to load on my blue bird.
This is my first time doing it and am really unsure.
Can you help me?
You will need to add a PIN to the gift card. Usually you can call the number on the back of the card or go to the website on the back of the card. Wait a day or so before going to Walmart to load to your Bluebird Card.
I’ve tried to load my Paypal mastercard and visa gift cards onto my Bluebird card at Wal-mart. It was not allowed. So I called customer service and they said that the policy changed and from now on, only Vanilla Reload cards can be used to load the Bluebird card (as well as cash and bank accounts).
Have you heard this? If this is true, manufactured spending is no longer an option to meet spending requirements! How can I get around this??
I don’t think that is true. You should still be able to load your Bluebird Card with gift cards at Walmart as long as you have a PIN. Some Walmarts are cracking down on letting you load with gift cards though.
Great information here. Here is what I would like to know:
Which gift cards have folks had success purchasing at office supply stores to load on BB at Walmart and in what amount? Same question for grocery stores. Thanks
I have done well buying Visa gift cards. Read the first section of this post for more info: http://travelwithgrant.com/2014/01/05/whats-on-my-mind-bluebird-and-walmart-credit-card-sign-up-spending-bonuses-mercedes-benz-key-rings-panda-express-panera-bread-amex-statement-credits-ba-avios-and-the-grand-canyon/
I WAS WONDER.I TOOK SOMETHING BACK TO WALMART WHICH WAS A MICROWAVE BECAUSE IT WAS A HOUSE WARMER PRESENT WITH NO RECIPT THEY PUT IT ON A WALMART CARD CAN I TRANSFER THAT TO A VANIELLE RELOAD CARD THEN GET A BLUEBIRD CARD HELP PLEASE…
You would need to use the Walmart gift card to buy a Visa or MasterCard gift card, then that can be loaded onto your bluebird card after you have added a pin to it.
Data point…
Bought a Vanilla Visa Gift card at CVS and loaded it into Walmart, no problem. Had to buy something to initiate the PIN. Next time, I will try and initiate a PIN at the Money Center at Walmart. It’s a bit more expensive than Vanilla Reloads, but good strategy to have when VRs are scare.
Yes, that works. Glad you were able to load your Bluebird Card successfully.
UPDATE: I went back this morning to load another $1,000, and this time, rather than purchase something, I tried going straight to the Money Center. It wasn’t open, but they said they could load my BB at one of the cashier stations. “ACTION 70!” I’ll probably never forget that tag. Also, the little yellow box on the keypad comes up so fast. I wasn’t ready for it the first time around. Long story short, I was able to load $1,000 no problem.
For Vanilla Visa Gift Cards, they state that you can create a PIN at the first transaction, so I just typed in four random numbers in the keypad to withdraw the $500. SUCCESS!
Again, great to have when VRs are scarce.
I’m glad you had success loading your Bluebird Card at Walmart. I will probably do that as well since my local CVS is out of VRCs for now.
did you buy the vanilla visa gift card as CVS and then went directly to walmart and asked them to load into bluebird?
You can do that. I typically add a PIN to the card and stop by Walmart the next day or so.
@jake – I literally drove to a CVS, bought the Vanilla Visa Gift Cards, then drove to Walmart to load the Gift Card. The PIN situation was tricky, as per the Vanilla T&C, “PIN will be established at first purchase,” so that “first” purchase is really just unloading it onto my BB.
can you create the pin on the website before you have to make a small purchase?
Yes, you can if you go to the website.
Ok, this bit about a PIN being established at first purchase is useful to know – the bit where we are swiping the Vanilla Visa Gift Card to offload the $500 and put it on the BB *is* the first purchase. So there is really no need to call the number at the back and set a PIN or go to the website and Manage a PIN, etc.
You got it Matt. So simple, right?
Is this still work? I bought 2 of 200 master gift card to load to my bb at walmat but they said gift cards are no longer able to load in bb.
That’s the official Walmart policy. Just tell them it’s a debit card with a PIN.
I went to my walmart and tried to refill my BB with chase visa gc and the cashiers told me to go to customer service and the cs rep insisted that it’s still a gift card even though it uses pin and they could get in trouble since it’s against walmart policy. What to do with $2100 in gift card form? lol
Try loading $500 a day at Walmart. Try going in the morning or to a different Walmart. The people at my Walmart like me because I am friendly so they don’t enforce the official policy.
Hi-if you don’t have a Money C enter at your walmart! can the reload via gift card be done at the register, or do you have to go to customer service? If you can do it at the register, does it need to be a separate transaction from a purchase? Thanks.
I’ve loaded my Bluebird Card at cash register checkout lanes and at the customer service (returns) center. I would do a separate transaction to load your Bluebird Card.
Thanks for your feedback. I just went to Walmart and an extremely nice cashier allowed me to upload a $200 VGC to Bluebird. However, when we tried to upload another $200 gift card, the system would not allowed it. Can you advise what might have gone wrong? Thank you again.
Did you max out on your monthly reload limit? Try again on March 1.
Not able to load a MasterCard GC debit card at a Walmart money center. It’s a US Bank Mastercard purchased this morning. I called and established a PIN. When the “Select Alternate Method” I hit that, selected DEBIT, entered my PIN, and then cashier told me it was denien, and handed me a paper slip spit out from register saying “Debit Not Approved Call Authorizer.” Any thoughts in what’s up here? I’m hoping to make the MasterCard (or Visa) GC thing work on BlueBird, as my local grocery store gives a “$6.00 Off Your Next Visit” coupon with any giftcard purchase over $200… which not only covers the fee for a $500 GC, but gives me $1.05 in change!
Try to set the PIN again. Maybe it didn’t save the PIN last time. Also double check the current balance on the gift card. Hopefully that works for you.
same problem here as with RJP
Try waiting 24 hours after setting the PIN before visiting Walmart. Sometimes the PINs do not get set right away.
Two different Walmarts tell me that the card is being read as a credit card, not as a debit card.
On another site, someone reported having success getting a cash advance for the full $500 from a teller at a bank and no charge so thought I would try that at my bank tomorrow.
I hope we are talking about gift cards not credit cards…
You might be screwed, can you use Amazon Payments to drain the gift card?
Tried this morning with a MetaBank Visa GiftCard and it went through without a hitch.
With that, I may have discovered “point perpetual motion”!
My grocery store kicks out a “$6 off your next order” coupon for every purchase of $200 or more in gift cards. My preferred cashier is more than happy to run a bunch through as seperate transactions, one-after-the-other, applying the coupon from one transaction against the next. So between my wife and I we can walk out of the grocery store each month with 50,000 Hilton Honors points ($5,000 x 5pts x 2people) with not only ZERO out of pocket cost, but actually coming out $1.00 ahead of the game each month. ($6.00 coupon – $5.95 per card = $0.05 profit per card x 20 cards).
Plus, as a bonus I was able to donate two free hams that I qualified for this morning to the local food bank.
Doing “good” while doing “well” is a nice feeling.
Thanks!
Great work RJP. I’m glad you are able to rack up a ton of points and give back to your community!
Thinking I was buying Vanilla reload cards, I mistakenly purchased 3 $500 MyVanilla Prepaid Visa cards–not GC’s. I want to try to load them to my BB card at Wal-Mart. Do I need to go online to activate this card before going to Wal-Mart?
You might need to go online or call the number on the back of the gift card to set the PIN. Did you purchase a OneVanilla gift card or a MyVanilla gift card?
RJP – so you used your Visa gift card at a grocery? Which one? (I live in the south)
Sorry for confusion:
– Bought Visa GC at a grocery story (NJ chain)
– Applied to my BBird at a Walmart
New to these things. I went to Walmart today and asked the rep to load the BB card. I slide the card but she said I have credit instead of debit. I am sure I have debit cards because I’ve set a pin for these debit cards. I remember you said that there is a yellow box that says alternate options but I only saw red, yellow, and green boxes without wording on it. is that the yellow box you mentioned that I should click to choose Debit? thanks
Try the reload again tomorrow. Sometimes it takes a few hours for the PIN to register.
I have my regular bank debit card linked to Bluebird (to add some extra cash if need to) but can I still use multiple GC’s with PIN to load my BB at Wal-Mart? If Wal-Mart share their system information to Bluebird, it will surely flag my BB for account shutdown because of my linked debit card.
You can load your Bluebird Card with gift cards at Walmart. Nothing to be worried about.
RoseAnn – what kind of GCs are you using? I’ve found that US Bank MasterCard GCs don’t work (at several local NJ WalMarts) but that MetaBank Visa GC’s are no problem.
Yes, Visa GCs work better in my opinion too.
Any idea if you can load multiple cards at one go? I mean, can I take 2x$500 and load my Bluebird all in one swoop? Or do I have to do 2 separate transactions?
Curious if I’d enter $1000, then swipe each card+pin.
Supposedly you can do them together, but you might run into problems if the Walmart cashier presses the wrong button. I would do 2 separate $500 transactions. Much easier in my opinion.
What about at the ATM like machines?
If the Walmart ATM is working, you can use that too.
My several local WM’s don’t seem to have the larger “MoneyCenter Kiosk” type ATM’s that I’ve seen pictured on various blogs. The WalMart ATM machines around here are the small ones… that look like the belong chained to a pole in a convenience store. Any idea if those machines can be used to load GC’s onto BBird accounts?
No, those are strictly for getting cash out, like a normal ATM.
I’ve done it both ways. 2 @ $500 in one transaction (clerk prompted me that he could do it) and 2 transactions at $500. Haven’t loaded at WM in months…will have to now.
Thanks for the data point. It really depends if the cashier knows the system well.
Try clicking on this link: MoneyPass ATM locator
Enter ‘walmart’ in the ATM location field, then enter your zip. It will give you a list of Walmarts with the Moneycenter Express machines
Thanks Orrin, very helpful link. I will add it to the main page too.
CVS has left many people like us in dire straits who now cannot buy Vanilla Reload cards by credit cards. Now its time you should step in help people like me by finding out an alternative to this. Since you are well connected on social media I bet you would be the first one to know of alternate ways of completing minimum spend requirements. I had recently got 3 credit cards and haven’t yet finished the minimum spending on them. Please help me suggesting alternative ways I could use to complete my minimum spends on Credit Cards……
Please help asap……
Thanks in advance
Sincerely
Mike
I understand your frustration Mike, you are not alone. I read a post last night that has some really good suggestions: http://freequentflyerbook.com/blog/2014/4/2/walmart-limits-and-thresholds
Do you still have access to gift cards, Bluebird and Walmart? If so, you can still load your Bluebird Card at Walmart. If you don’t have a Walmart close by, you may want to look into Serve from American Express.
I’ve follow this whole string and it seems the subject is pretty dynamic: one day it works; another it doesn’t. Since the golden goose of Vanilla Reloads from CVS has died, I’m just starting to explore the ‘ol One Vanilla Prepaid Visa Debit (OVPVD) cards. I’ve purchased a few thousand in these OVPVD cards and simply purchased money orders for deposit in the bank, but I’m trying to mitigate the legal risks of that by leveraging my BlueBird cards again.
What is the latest status of using an OVPVD to load $1,000 per day ($5000 per month max) to BlueBird by visiting a Walmart? If loading BB with OVPVDs is still working, do we hit the automated machine or must we go to the counter for the transaction? Your updates are much appreciated.
From what I’ve heard from other readers, the One Vanilla Gift Cards are working well at Walmart. Very easy to use, you just enter any 4 digit PIN and your Bluebird Card will be loaded successfully.