UPDATE 6/20/14: Do not use OVGCs or VGCs at Walmart. Use other gift cards from other banks.
No Vanilla Reload Cards? No Problem! One Vanilla Gift Cards to the Rescue
I don’t know about you, but my local CVS store(s) are getting a bit low on Valentine’s Day chocolate Vanilla Reload Cards. Instead of walking out empty handed, take a look at the One Vanilla Gift Cards.
They have a slightly higher activation fee ($4.95 instead of $3.95), but they are a great Vanilla Reload Card alternative/replacement.
The great thing about this gift card is you can load it onto your Bluebird Card at Walmart (link) and you DO NOT need to register a PIN before using it. Yes, you read that correctly, all you do is swipe the gift card and enter any 4 digits you like (I like 1234 or 1127 (for my birthday)), but you may like another set of 4 digit numbers. It really is as simple as it sounds. Plus, I’ve seen literally 100 One Vanilla gift cards at every CVS store I have ever been to. You should be able to buy these cards at CVS or any grocery store, gas station, or other store.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
Hahaha, I work for them.
Any way to load these online? I keep getting an error when trying to add them to my BB account online.
You can only load real debit cards (and PayPal Business Debit Cards) online to Bluebird. Otherwise you will have to load in store at Walmart.
Has anyone tried to load these to a H&R Block card via Walmart Money Center?
can you still use credit card for VRC and onevanilla lately in CVS? they refused to use credit card to buy those.
No to VRCs, maybe to One Vanilla Gift Cards.
Was able to purchase one from CVS today with a CC. I did have to go to two stores, as first store told me no flat out. At the second store, the manager was on the register, and checked me out with no problems or questions.
It’s amazing how much of a different experience you can have from one CVS to another.
At both of the two CVSs where I used to buy Vanilla Reloads, the cashiers told me One Vanillas were cash only. I told them One Vanillas were still OK to buy with credit cards, and they checked the memo (still posted near the register). When they didn’t find OV on the “no fly list”, I told them the POS would let the transaction go through, so they tried and were successful. If you can convince them just to try to ring it up, you’ll be OK.
Exactly, some cashiers just assume everything that has a $500 limit is cash only. It helps if you buy other items along with your One Vanilla purchase. it is easier for them to try the credit card purchase than to cancel out all the items they already scanned. P.S. You can get some great deals on Easter candy this week :)
Just did my first One V run to Wally World. I purchased the One V at Rite Aid with my CC. Off the WM, boom done. Clerk didn’t even look. And a shocker, the kiosk was broken. On a related note, WM is frightening.
Good job Geoff. You are a pro!
Ha, hardly a pro. Just points addicted. Once we get used to a certain value/form of travel it is virtually impossible to go back…
Yes it is hard to break. After a rough red eye in economy, you might swear off economy all together.
I’ve done several and they all suck, even in F.
Not all CVS have One Vanilla. I buy them all the time at a CVS. Dallas, TX
Just went to Walmart with One Vanilla Visa, the machine down so I went to customer service desk, took 2 minutes to finish load to bluebird with pin # 1234. Thanks.
Pretty easy huh? Just do that a few more times and you will be all set.
Thanks. Yes it was very easy and only $1 more than the other and I can use it as debit card. I will buy couple more.to fulfill the minimum requirement for the bonus. I plan to buy gift card from my grocery store, buy Costco cash card and pay ahead for Comcast but with this way I don’t have to and save the other for later.
Good job Hoang, sounds like a good plan. Let me know if you run into any problems or have any questions.
Thanks. The Kiosk has been down at least 2 days, I am not sure they plan to close it or just really problems. Today the lady helped me knows what she is doing and the upload is very pleasant. She seemed surprise when I said thank you very for your help..
Good job Hoang! Never give up and you will be successful eventually.
Grant, do you go to the customer service desk or do you load BB at one of the regular checkout registers? Someone on FT recommended a regular register because those cashiers would be less likely to look at the type of card being used to load. I’m wondering if a regular cashier would know how to process the loading to BB.
Also, forgive me for a very basic question, but what are the exact steps? Do you swipe your BB card or does the clerk? What buttons does the clerk have to punch, and what buttons do you have to punch?
Checkout cashiers don’t come close to the agents in Walmart Money Centers in what they know.
You got that right Jerry.
My first stop would be to the customer service center and I usually have really good success. Most will swipe the Bluebird Card for you (95% of the time), some will let you swipe it yourself. I think there is a prompt to load the Bluebird (option 2) and then they enter the amount for each load. I’ve had success at cashiers too. Most are not used to loading Bluebird Cards, but you can help them through the steps.
Thanks, Grant.
When loading this at WM do you need to switch the purchase type to debit like with the MC GC, which then prompts you for a pin? Or do you just simply swipe the card and you’re done?
For One Vanilla, all I do is swipe the card and the box pops up to ask for a PIN. super easy and never had a problem.
I agree with Grant. When I handle the Bluebird to Walmart customer, he asked me my One Vanilla has pin and I said yes. The One Vanilla actually has the word “DEBIT” in the front, He swiped the Bluebird first then ask me how much money I wanted to load. Next step is swipe the One Vanilla, then pin came up.
By the way, at CVS the clerk told me I can’t pay by credit card and I told her yes I can since it is prepaid card. She checked and One Vanilla is not in the list, so she let me used cc to pay for.
I think most CVS cashiers assume anything card that has a $500 limit is no good anymore. A little persuasion goes a long ways.
My Wal-Mart sells one vanilla master cards whereas the one vanilla visa cards are at CVS and Walgreens. Any concerns with using the master cards since that would get me in to the grocery store bonus?
To clarify, I use the One Vanilla cards with the Amex Bluebird at walmart. Wasn’t sure if the One Vanilla master cards would load the same as the visa cards would.
I believe they will load just the same. Please report back what you find out.
If you can buy the MC GCs with a CC, you should be fine. I haven’t loaded one of those but it should just be as easy to load as Visa GCs.
I have been successfully loading my Bluebird cards with both OneVanilla (prepaid Visa) Cards as well as VanillaVisa Gift Cards for the past 10 days Both cards have the word “DEBIT” on them. In the past week, since the Vanilla Reload cards have become cash only at CVS, I have worked with five different Customer Service agents at two different WalMarts with the OneVanilla cards and the VanillaVisa Gift Cards. None of the customer agents have asked to look at the cards or questioned if my name was on them. Your technique worked every time and without issue or fail. The Service agents have been cordial and professional. None needed any coaxing training…..either WalMart taught them well, or another of your readers did.
Thank you.
OD
My biggest advice is to go early in the morning when they are less busy and there are less customers in line. They tend to be in better moods as well. I’m not sure they ever see the card I use except for a split second when I swipe the card and enter the PIN. I’m glad you are having such an easy reload process.
I plan to go different time since I don’t want to see same person and she/he may make the notice and it may hurt all of us in a long run.
I like seeing the same people. They trust me and it makes it easier to reload.
So when loading Bluebird with the OV at WM, do you do $1000 and then do split tender? If so, how does that work – does the system know automatically to prompt for a second payment? Or, do you do 2x$500 loads separately? Thanks!
I do 2 separate transactions for $500 each. It is the easiest way and most Walmart cashiers can handle that.
WHat is the limit on how many One Vanilla cards you can purchase at a time at a CVS? The reason being, when VRC were still available, I would just buy the whole $5000 lot at the same time. Is it the same for the One Vanilla cards? Thanks in advance!
I assume the daily purchase limit is the same as VRCs, but it will probably be on a store by store basis.
I once bought six One Vanilla cards for a $3,000 min spend. No idea about any maximum.
Thanks for the responses!
How do you get around the max of $100 daily debit reload limit? Is it different if you go to Walmart to reload with debit?
$100 reload is for online reloads. But you can do $1,000 reloads inside Walmart stores.
VERY annoyed today. Went to my usual WalMart to load $1000 worth of One Vanilla to my Bluebird, as I have done many times. The cashier said some corporate guys told them not to accept any type of gift cards for Bluebird loads that don’t have your name on them. I asked if I could just load it today since I wasn’t aware of the new rule and they flat out said no. Merciless. I will try out another walmart tomorrow where I have had some more success so hopefully they’ll help me out.
In any case, if this is a new thing Walmart is going to implement, bye bye to Bluebird.
Bummer. I went to Walmart this morning and loaded up 2 $200 Visa Gift Cards with no problem. Try back again at a different time.
Update: Went to a different walmart today and had a great experience. Was able to load $1000 in One Vanillas on both mine and my wife’s bluebird. My faith in humanity has been restored. This walmart is a little out of the way but it’s worth the drive because it has been hassle free for me,
I guess I’m just a pessimist by nature, but I’m still a little concerned about the other walmart cracking down on gift card loads. Hopefully they’re an isolated incident.
Not all Walmarts are created equal. Same thing goes for CVS. Just find the good ones and keep going there.
Syed: did they actually take your oneVanilla card from you? In all my experences, they have never even once asked to look at the card…..I just said that I have a debit card with $500 on it…..I would probably just go back and try a different agent before I lose all hope for the future!!
Yes exactly. Good advice Orrin. Never give up.
i purchased a OV VIsa card in RiteAid (with cc, I assume CVS no longer take cc on any of those cards). I use the MoneyPass ATM instead going to cashier and it worked for both BB and GoBank. Syed, did your WM has that ATM? I know that not all WM has them.
Puzzling. I have never seen gift or debit cards with names on them for sale.
Trying to figure out MS in a post VR world… My local CVS will let me buy OV Visa with a CC ($500) and alternatively I can buy a $200 Gift Card at OD with my Ink (with the 5X bonus). My biggest concern is how effectively I can unload those at WM for either MO or BB – is 5 cards more hassle or 2 cards? Or is either no hassle and I go with who gives me more bang for my buck?
I recently discovered MS’ing a few months ago and wanna be in the game long term…
I personally do both, buying gift cards at Staples and at CVS. I earn my Chase UR Points at Staples for 0.67 cents per point ($6.95 / 1,035) and other miles/points at CVS at 0.98 cents per point ($4.95 / 505). I tend to do more Staples purchases because of the savings. Actually if you enroll in Visa Savings Edge, you get 1% cash back on Visa Business Card purchases made at Staples, so the new cost is $4.88 / 1,035 = 0.47 cents per point.
Thanks Grant! I actually use my United Club card at CVS thus earning 1.5 miles/dollar and (correct me if I’m wrong) think that loading two $500 cards to BB at WM is easier than loading five $200 cards? Something about a maximum number of swipes? Or am I confusing something I read online…
I read something about 4 being the maximum number of swipes per card per day. You are right, 2 $500 swipes is a lot easier and faster than 5 $200 swipes.
Why would anyone waste card fees on $200 cards instead of $500 One Vanilla cards?
Because the $200 cards are bought at Office Depot and get 5X points ($1k = 5000 miles) making the cost basis actually cheaper than the $500 OV cards.
Thank you for reading my mind, Neworleans Flyer.
Different points, plus you earn 5x on the $200, but only 1x on the $500.
I buy $500 One Vanilla debit cards with credit cards all the time at a CVS here in Dallas Texas. . If a clerk tells you no, get a manager.
Money and arithmetic. Add up the card fees for two $200 cards + one $100 card = 3 cards. Compare the total money with the cost of one $500 One Vanilla card. Compare that difference with the value of the few 5X points.
The activation fees don’t matter. The only thing that matters is the final CPP. UR points = 0.67 and other miles/points = 0.98.
Assuming you buy $1,000 of $200 GCs at Staples, you pay $34.75 in fees, but get 5,175 UR Points. Alternative, if you buy $1,000 of $500 OV GCs at CVS, you pay $9.90 in fees, but you get 1,010 miles/points.
You are paying 3.5x more in fees at Staples, but are getting 5.1x more points.
$34.75 versus $9.90! What can you buy with those few extra points?
Jerry, how about this: $34.75 in activation fees buy $51.75 in miles/points, while $9.90 in fees buy $10.10 in miles/points. Which option has a higher return?
Can you actually buy anything worth $51.75 with “$51.75 in miles/points”?
Sure, I can convert 5,175 Chase UR Points to $51.75 statement credit, not the best deal in terms of Chase UR Points, but it is definitely doable: http://travelwithgrant.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/5175-Chase-UR.png
I just loaded my first $500 VGC at WM today! Actually loaded my first two and it was the first time the Moneycenter cashier had ever seen a BB (new WM but sadly no Kate). She called the manager over, they did one swipe with each card and I was out of there within minutes. Of course it wasn’t as easy as scratching off lotto tickets (i.e. VR) but it was less painful than I thought it was going to be. And yes Grant, no PIN was necessary…
Congrats. I think you will a Bluebird loading pro in no time!
I’m really puzzled. Where did you get the One Vanilla cards to load at Walmart? Walmart doesn’t stock them. And did you actually load them at Walmart? I buy and load them at CVS and “unload” them at Walmart to buy the money orders to deposit into my bank. When I buy the MOs, I have to swipe the OV cards and enter a PIN. I just use the last four card numbers as a PIN.
What is a VGC? One Vanilla are not gift cards; they are debit cards.
Hi Grant; thanks for the great blog!
I have had smooth sailing switching from the VR to OV about Apr. 1, since OV still can bought with Credit Card, but VR requires cash. One that day, the POS rejected CC for VR, but allowed CC purch for OV and $20-500 variable load Vanilla GCs.
Then today, I had the clerk tell me there was a 2500/daily purchase limit, then told me I could not use a “prepaid card” (I was using the AMEX GC) to purchase the One Vanilla; and I questioned it, as I had done this just 4 days ago at another CVS. When the manager came up, she reiterated “no prepaid cards”. I said I think your POS will allow it; what is the reason why? She had no answer, only citing “corporate policy” and said no.
Went to CVS store #2, took some OV’s to the counter, then was told by clerk and manager, “cash only.” They showed me the “memo,” I pointed out that the OV was not the same as Vanilla Reload Network named on the memo, and they saw that they are different products, but the manager told me the POS rejected a OV purchase the previous day. I asked them if they would at least try it with CC for OV, but they said no.
Has anyone gotten the POS to refuse a OV purchase? Any new “memos” from CVS corp stopping CC for OV and others?
Or should I just go to another store where they are not so overzealous with anti-CC enforcement that may not even be the real CVS policy?
Just keep trying different stores. Try going at different times when different people are working. I am sorry you are getting the run around from the cashiers/managers at CVS.
I would try to purchase in a smaller quantity. Huge amounts at one time raise eyebrows, whether they are allowable or not.
Grant,
Yesterday my wife tried to load $1000 of OV cards to her BB account at Wal-Mart, the same as I had done for the previous 5 days. The clerk took her cards and ID to a manager, stating that they suspected there was some sort of fraud going on and wanted to know why she was making this request. When she explained that this method simply allows her to earn points for purchases like mortgage, etc., they reluctantly allowed it, but I fear that they will stop doing this in the near future. I have a hunch that the days of MS using the OV method are numbered just like the VR method. Thoughts?
It’s easier if you do 2 separate transactions for $500 each. Some cashiers are strange and think we are up to no good. It helps if you go to the same store with the same cashiers. They start to trust you more and give you less hassle.
Check CVS and WM in my areas.
CVS1 cash only
CVS2 1gc w/ $200 w/ CC
cvs3 2gc x $500 w/ cc /person/day
cvs 4 & 5 10gc x $500 w/ cc
WM1 BB machine load $1000 x 2
WM2 BB machine load $1000 + $999.99
WM2 MO w/ 6 GC $499.30 each w/ no interest in my using multiple debit cards
Chase has no problem accepting lots of MO.
Thw whole trips takes about 2-3hrs.
Wow, that is a lot of work, is that all your monthly MS in one day?
You write about GIFT cards, Did you try any DEBIT cards such as One Vanilla?
Thanks; inconsistent rules by each store, huh? And, what day did you do this? Apr 14/15?
I went to my local CVS this morning (4/15) and bought a One Vanilla Gift Card with a credit card, no questions asked.
One Vanilla is NOT a gift card.
Jerry why can’t we all get along. We are talking about the same thing.
OneVanilla Prepaid Visa Card = OneVanilla Visa Gift Card
On the home page of onevanilla.com, 4th paragraph from the bottom : “You may use OneVanilla Visa Gift Cards for domestic U.S. transactions or purchases only.”
Whoever wrote that in the website didn’t bother to look at a OV card which shows “DEBIT”.
Thanks; just as I thought; clerks mixing up One Vanilla with Vanilla RELOAD network
So has anyone had trouble buying these with a credit card? I just tried to purchase at family dollar and it was a no go :/
Can you buy them from any other stores? I don’t have a family dollar around me to try.
I’ve been reading elsewhere that only the reload cards work. Doesn’t make sense to me but you know I don’t want to end up wasting a $1,000. One lady on another site specifically said purchasing this card was a “mistake.” Has everyone had good experiences loading the Vanilla One to Bluebird?
There are 2 things that need to work in unison: CVS lets you buy One Vanilla Gift Cards with a credit card and Walmart lets you use the One Vanilla Gift Card to load to your Bluebird Card. IF those 2 things are working for you, then you will not have any problems.
I work at a Rite Aid so I can pull those strings. Any reason it wouldn’t work at Walmart though? When you load the One Vanilla card to Bluebird do you have to deal with an associate who may or may not let you do it? Thanks for the advice. It’s cool that you get back to people so quickly. Main reason I’m doing this is to achieve my spending bonus for Chase Sapphire Preferred. If I purchase it at the drugstore will it qualify towards the spending requirement? I’ve read they do but just want to see if you’ve experienced the same. Thanks again
Every purchase you make counts, as long as it is not a cash advance. All Rite Aid purchase will count as a purchase toward the CSP sign up bonus. Some Walmart associates like to enforce the rule that your name had to be on the card you are using to load the funds to. Most associates don’t enforce that rule though.
Just purchased my first One Vanilla card at Valero here in Colorado. Had a hard time finding a place to let me use a CC to purchase. Anybody in CO have any other recommendations on other places to buy in CO?
Also, how long do I need to wait before trying to transfer money to BB at Wally World?
Thanks!
You should be able to load it anytime after you buy it. I usually wait a day, but I am sure it will work sooner. I don’t know if you can buy it and use it within a few minutes, but maybe someone can chime in…
Grant,
I usually buy and use right away with a Visa GC, but I bought 2 yesterday and went to load with no luck. I called this morning, and the money is still not there. Technically, the activation receipt says they have 24hrs, so it will hopefully show up, but it is making me nervous because I never had this happen before.
The activation server might be down for maintenance, if you don’t see anything after 24 hours, call the number on the back of the card and talk to customer service. Let me know how it turns out.
Bill, where in CO? I am in CO, and I have had a hard time. I cannot buy OV or any other GC at Office Depot, Dollar General, or any gas station that I have tried. My method right now is to buy Visa GC at either King Soopers or Staples, then load BB at Walmart. I would love to be able to buy One Vanilla, though! Also, yesterday, I bought 2 $500 Visa GC at Kings, and took it to Walmart to load to my BB, and the money was not there! This morning, it is still not yet available, and that is a new problem for me. I hope when we hit the 24hr mark, the money will show up!
Thanks for your help!
Hi Grant,
I believe you can load it right away since when you buy it the cashier activates the card. I did in within an hour and no problem. With the Vanilla Reload card, I upload it as soon as I got home, sometimes about 15 minutes. So I guess we don’t have the problem do it right away. I will try later to drive directly from CVS to Walmart (3 miles). Too bad, I just make $10000 with AA Executive credit card so I may have to wait for new credit card.
I would have VRCs loaded within 5 minutes when I used to buy them. There is a CVS about 1000 feet from Walmart, so I would be curious. I’ll try it next week perhaps.
After 2 CVS stores hassled me by telling me, “can not buy One Vanilla with PREPAID card” and the other “Cash only” for OV, i found two stores that did help me with no issues. The clerks were friendly young kids, not the frumpy full-time “40-something and hating it” types at the previous stores! Keep on trying!
I have the best luck with the younger cashiers in their mid 20s and the older people 60+. Anyone in between usually gives me trouble.
I see no reason to buy One vanilla with a prepaid card. I use credit cards to meet the minimum spending.
Why waste time with Bluebird? Buy money orders to deposit into bank.
Two possible reasons. 1) Bluebird is free, whereas money orders aren’t. 2) Loading to Bluebird saves time because it eliminates the step of driving to the bank and depositing money orders in your account.
Money orders have theoretically no monthly limit, which is good for some people.
Bluebird lets you pay bills. That’s handy. I bought a 500 1V today, no problem with cc at cvs.
Good job Zac. You can pay bills with Serve and Go Bank too.
I pay bills online electronically from my bank.
So encouraged to find alternatives to the old Vanilla Reload trick. I bought 2x $500 OneVanilla Visa cards at a Rite Aid here in Mobile. Before I paid, the cashier said “you’re paying debit right?”…I just kind of agreed. Not the most honest thing in the world, but I wanted to see if the transaction would go through. It did. Afterwards, she said “I wasn’t supposed to run that as credit”, and I said that I thought these OneVanilla cards were fine to buy with credit cards. She then let me buy the second one no problems, although I sensed that she felt like she was breaking some rules. I won’t bother her again.
Anyway, got to Walmart and had the lady at customer service load the two 1V cards to my Bluebird with no problems. It asked for a PIN, I just entered “1234”. Worked like a charm!
Good work Jeremy. I’m glad you were able to buy the One Vanilla gift card and load to Walmart without any problems. I did that this morning. Took me around 10 minutes to go inside CVS, drive over to Walmart, and load the cards to my Bluebird Card.
I was at a Rite Aid one day in Tuscaloosa, and I saw Green Dot prepaid cards and Rush Cards. The initial load is $500 and there’s no fee. You should go to a Rite Aid in Mobile and try it. If it’s possible to successfully buy those prepaid cards, then it would be worth it to “one and done” them.
Are you able to buy them with a credit card? I don’t have much experience regarding Green Dot products.
I work at a Rite Aid and can tell you that the reason we’re apprehensive about approving a credit transaction for prepaid cards is because we get a lot of disputed transactions regarding stollen credit cards or spliced cards with factual information and correct name to match ID but turn out disputed. If you sign a legible signature and show them your ID they probably won’t give you a problem. I am actually scared when someone requests a lot on a prepaid card and wants to do credit. They usually hassle me about it too. There’s a reason they’re apprehensive about it. Trust me, it sucks to be called out and asked if you approved a credit transaction for $500 that came back as a disputed charge.
I can imagine that part of the job sucks, is there anyway to reduce the number of fraudulent transactions? It’s cool to have someone on the “inside” share what it’s like. How long have you been with Rite Aid?
I’ve been there six years. 24 years old and in the midst of schooling to get out. The fraudulent transactions are how people will clear you out if they get your credit card. It’s not as if they’ll go and shop until they drop, they’ll just load these cards to spend at their leisure. I’ve had people ask if they can enter the credit card # manually to purchase prepaid cards and everything. It’s crazy. There isn’t any corporate rule pertaining to the denial of credit payments towards prepaid cards of any kind. The only restriction in writing is debit/credit toward money orders and credit towards Western Union transactions. As far as I know checks aren’t allowed towards anything but regular merchandise but it’s not as if anyone on here cares about that aspect anyhow. Otherwise, you can all rest assured that there is no corporate rule against credit for prepaid cards. You just need to convince these local stores with their own rules that you’re legit. I’d recommend doing small amounts at first rather than the max $500. That’s what really scares us is when we ask and get “$500” Get to know cashiers with smaller amounts then ease up to $500. When they haven’t heard anything about so&so transaction coming back as disputed they’ll feel more comfortable.
Thanks James, that’s very much appreciated. I haven’t been to a Rite Aid in a few years, what kind of cards do you recommend getting for MS purposes?
All new credit cards will be declined for big purchases if you don’t call them to have the cards unblocked.
Jerry the day I got my Citi AA Executive card I walked into a CVS and bought 5k worth of (VR) no call ahead or anything. It was barely 3 hours from the time Fedex dropped the card off at my house. So your statement is not true of all cards.
I’m surprised, Citi has been finicky for me sometimes in the past regarding large purchases.
I’m glad it worked for you. I guess their computer expects people with that card to make big purchases. With all other cards, before I caught on, their computers didn’t believe I was buying $1,000, etc. in grocery or drugstore supplies and my cards were declined. I’m curious, did CVS let you charge VR rather One Vanilla? I keep reading that VR can no longer be charged in CVS.
I think what Mike said was when he got his AA Exec Card (a few weeks ago), he was able to buy $5,000 worth of VRCs at CVS. Now that has changed and CVS no longer allows VRCs with a credit card.
Let me see if I have all the options straight here:
(1) Buy OV and load to BB. It’s free to load to BB, correct?
(2) Buy OV and use it to buy MO at a cost of 70 cents, then deposit the MO in your bank.
(3) Buy OV and use the billpay feature at WM (i.e., use OV to pay off the credit card at a cost of $1.88 / payment). And I believe you can make a single payment of $1998.12 by swiping 4 different OVs.
Is all that correct?
That all sounds right to me. I haven’t done #2 or #3 yet.
I’ve maxed out the monthly load limit on my BB and my wife’s BB already. BP and/or MO allow me to do a little more MS before May 1.
I’m gunna buy my first money order soon. I’m looking forward to it.
I do #2 all the time. 68c per MO here in Dallas, TX. I buy $1,000 MOs. I pay bills electronically online from my bank account. No fees involved. Utilities are automatically drafted on my bank account each month.
Do you buy a MO for $1,000 and then pay the 68 cents out of your pocket, or do you buy a MO for $999.32 and let the transaction wipe out all of the value of two OV cards?
I buy $1,000 MOs with the debit cards and pay the fee for each MO in cash.
Hi Grant, I just loaded up on the metabank Visa “Gift Card” debit cards at Staples, they had a promo going on… Do you know if these will work at WalMart for loading the BB?
Yes, I also got in on the promo earlier this week. Just go online and set a PIN and you will be good to go.
Do you have to activate the One Vanilla gift card before using it at WalMart?
When you buy it with a credit card, it will be automatically activated.
If I can a CC to buy any GC can I use it to buy a Money Order?- it wouldn’t have to be OV- right? Where is the best place to buy a money order for this? This seems way easier to get the $ back to my bank account and not have to go through BB. Any thoughts or experience?
The OV debit card and US Bank debit cards are the most widely accepted forms of payment for money order. Go to Wal-Mart (or most any grocery store) for the money order
Megabeth18-Read all Comments. Explained numerous times.
Like I typed in an earlier comment, the Rush Cards seem to be amazing.
Why is the Rush Card amazing? Kind of ironic, but I got an email from them this afternoon that I had a $5 balance from a referral that signed up back in January.
I was writing in response to your question a few hours ago, when you asked “what kind of cards do you recommend getting for MS purposes?” I’m delighted to hear James Graves say that at Rite Aid, there is no corporate rule against credit for prepaid cards. So, seeing that I found Rush Cards and Green Dot prepaid cards on the rack at Rite Aid, free initial load up to $500, you can “one and done” them. This is like the HIGC all over again.
It might be good to start small, like a load of $30 or something. On subsequent trips to Rite Aid, you can gradually increase the amount you buy in a single transaction. Hopefully the Rite Aid stores in Irvine have those cards.
Good idea. There are a few Rite Aid stores in Irvine, but they are no coincidently close by. Dang.
@bmau09, very good. Yeah, like I said there’s nothing on the register that won’t allow you to do the credit payment… All you have to worry about is the cashier. If they start to recognize you and have no reason to be suspicious, you can count on being able to do that every single day. That’s why it’s great that I work there, there surely aren’t any other reasons why I care to. Lol If you guys need any advice just let me know. I can tell you whether they’re planning a change as CVS has done. I know there hasn’t been any mention of it yet.
Thanks James, I’m sure we all appreciate the inside point of view. Keep us updated if you hear any credit card rumors.
Hi Grant,
Say I was able to buy OV but then unable to unload at Walmart (either via BB or MO).
What options do we have at that point?
Thanks,
Bill
If you tried going to Walmart at different times, to different cashiers, or to different Walmart stores and still had no luck, you could always cash out with Amazon Payments or use Evolve Pay or make a Kiva loan, or use Square/PayPal/Google Wallet. So you still have some choices left.