UPDATE 6/20/14: Do not use OVGCs or VGCs at Walmart. Use other gift cards from other banks.
State of the Union: Bluebird, Serve, and Go Bank Reloads at Walmart with Gift Cards as of May 30, 2014
First off, I want to thank all of you who commenting on my post from this morning ((Rumor) Walmart Updates Point of Sale (POS) Software, Making Bluebird/Serve/Go Bank Reloads Difficult) and shared their results, both successes and failures. Based on your feedback, I can generalize what works and what doesn’t. I have tried to make this as clear as possible, so here goes…
If you have $200 gift cards from Staples, Staples.com, Office Depot, or Office Max, your gift card reloads should work just as they always have. You can load these gift cards at the Money Center ATMs/Kiosks, at the Money Center Department, or by going to a regular checkout lane.
These gift cards are issued by Gift Card Mall, which uses Metabank, therefore, any Visa or MasterCard gift card issued by Metabank should work as of today (May 30).
The $500 Visa Gift Card (below right) is available at several grocery and convenience stores. Most people reported no problem loading them to their Bluebird, Serve, or Go Bank cards, so they seem to work the same as always. The gift cards come from My Gift Card Site, which uses US Bank, therefore, any Visa or MasterCard gift card issued by US Bank should work as of today (May 30). You can load these gift cards at the Money Center ATMs/Kiosks, at the Money Center Department, or by going to a regular checkout lane.
One Vanilla Gift Cards (OVGCs, above left) seem to be the cause of a lot of frustration at Walmart. Before today, these were the easiest gift cards to use to load to Bluebird, Serve, or Go Bank. All you had to do was purchase them (at CVS or other retailers), drive over to Walmart, swipe the card, enter any 4 digit PIN, and be on your way. It was so easy that I was able to complete the entire process in under 10 minutes (read How Fast can you Manufacture Spend? Under 10 Minutes with CVS and Walmart).
As of today (May 30), Walmart has made our lives a little bit more complicated by requiring a few extra steps to load these gift cards to our Bluebird, Serve, or Go Bank cards. Some people have reported that a signature box pops up after swiping the card, while others get an error message stating that credit cards cannot be used. In order to get around that, you will have to be fast. Swipe the card and look for a small yellow dialog box that pops up on the credit card reader. Press the yellow “Change Payment Method” button, then select “Debit/ATM”, choose “No Cash Back,” then enter your 4 digit PIN. That should work.
If you do not see the “Change Payment Method” button, press the red or yellow buttons below the credit card reader right after swiping the gift card. That should bring up other payment methods including the “Debit/ATM” option. Then follow the above instructions.
For those lucky few with access to working Money Center ATMs/Kiosks, you shouldn’t have any problems loading gift cards to your Bluebird, Serve, or Go Bank cards. It seems that the latest Point of Sale (POS) software update has not effected gift card loading. Therefore, continue using the Money Center ATM/Kiosk as you always have.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great weekend everyone!
Just loaded $800 onto BB with MC gift cards from staples at Moneycenter in Miami. Had to use the work around and swipe the card multiple times as ‘cancel’ would force me to reswipe the card.
The last card would not load. Tried the money center and the checkout (no kiosk) and it would give the “tender not accepted”. 4/5 ain’t bad, but not nearly as simple as it used to be. Liquidated it at CVS into an amazon card.
Trying staples Visa GC once they arrive in the mail later this week.
Thanks for sharing George. I’m not sure why the last card gave you trouble. Did you load $1000 before the 5 $200 GCs?
I haven’t used my BB in a few months as I was moving etc. only $800.93 in the BB account so it wasn’t a function of daily limits. First 12 digits were the same on all cards so not sure what was going on.
1st WM I tried I didn’t know about the work around and the supervisor told me GCs were no longer allowed to be loaded (kiosk, checkout or money center). Changed WM and used the work around with great success.
Thanks for the tips!
Confirmed today at Walmart in So Cal. One Vanilla works using the work around and US Bank gift card works like normal. Keep on churning!
Don’t even have to break a stride. Walmart in Foothill Ranch was easy this morning using the work around. Just 3-4 extra steps.
Hi Grant!
Excellent follow through on this!
Haven’t used my Bluebird account since April, before the demise of VR at CVS. I haven’t gone the route of PIN-enabled debit cards so I’m a little apprehensive especially with the recent WM changes. I live in the same city as you and I’m quite new to this so it gets a little overwhelming. Would you mind sharing your go-to places in the OC and methods you’ve had higher success rates with? Office Depot/Staples? Simon Mall GC? One Vanilla @ CVS? And at our local WM, money center, counter or kiosk? If you’d prefer to reply via email, that works as well.
Another question, for AOR, how do you usually space them out? 3 at a time? in a span of how many days? Is it true if you apply for a few on the same day, it wouldn’t have much more impact on your credit score than if you only apply for one?
I go to the one in Foothill Ranch, above Lake Forest. The WM by the Spectrum and Tustin District work as well. I go to the Money Center/Returns Department. Hand your Bluebird Card to the cashier and tell them the amount you want to load. I do each gift card load separate, since that is the easiest way to do it. If you buy the gift cards at grocery stores, you have to call the number on the back to set the PIN before you can use it at Walmart. If you buy OVGCs or Vanilla GCs at CVS, you can use any PIN at Walmart. You have to be quick and change the payment option, otherwise it will try to go through as a credit card and reject your load.
As for App-O-Ramas, I like to pick 1 credit card from each bank and apply early in the morning on a weekday. Apply for the cards in the order you would want them approved (most important card/sign up bonus to least important). I call the recon line if I don’t get instantly approved before applying for the other cards. I do them all on the same day within a 30-60 minutes span, depending on how many cards I’m going for and how many recon calls I have to make.
Regarding credit inquiries to your credit report/score, it is a small decrease, but it will rebound in 2-3 months to higher than it was previously. Let me know if you have any other AOR questions. Good luck!
Hi Grant, I just want to clarify on what many people refer as “work around” method in here……is that meant the one that you have to be very quick pressing the “change payment” yellow button that pop up on the display once you swiped your card? OR does it mean something else?
As for App O Rama thing, you said that you usually do it early in the morning and go through each card application within 30-60 mins span. Do you have any preference what day is the easiest and has more chance of getting nice/kind friendly rep in recon department who is willing to work with you on getting approved? I heard that some certain days, rep are more friendly and easier to approve your pending/denied app because they are more relaxed and not pressured or stressed out by a lot of workload on that certain day or time … just for example : on weekend or night time.
I don’t recommend applying at night or on the weekend, since more reconsideration departments have limited hours or are completely closed on the weekend. I usually apply early in the week, preferably Monday morning (6-7am PST). I don’t have a rhyme or reason answer, that is just what I like to do. I want them to approve the card and send it out ASAP so I can start spending on it, so if I get approved on Monday, they can mail out the card on Monday or Tuesday and I might be able to receive it the same week.
Make sense! thanks Grant.
Thanks Grant! Very helpful reply. Do you prefer a certain GC that works better than another? I’ve read mixed/conflicting reports on a few blogs with some claiming certain pin-enabled Visa/MC GCs did not work on bluebird or transaction was denied when purchasing with CC. Which would give you better ROI: buy Gc at office supply store (with 5x bonus but higher fee since max you can load is $200,right?), or buy GC at CvS for $500 w/ $5 fee but no category bonus?
Have you tried Simon gift cards? I saw they have malls in Orange and Mission viejo.
On one hand I wanna attempt my 1st AOR, on the other the combined spending limit in such a short time frame seems a little daunting to me. I agree it’s a good strategy to apply at different banks though. I’m thinking Amex spg, chase sapphire preferred (missed the UR ink and bold bonus), and maybe Barclay? We’re trying to amass enough for tickets to Asia (HKG) x 3 this Christmas break. Between my husband and I, we have about 85k united miles, 120k AA, and almost 40k Starwood (which would convert to 50k). Any advice on strategies to take? Which cards to apply for and what AA or united partners to use that would maximize our current miles ? I also keep reading a lot of positive feedback on the SW cards and Avios for short distance flights. Help! I’m getting overwhelmed!
It’s good that you have a travel goal in mind. It might be difficult to find 3 round trip tickets to Hong Kong over Christmas break. Have you started researching flights from your home airport to HKG? I would try to figure out which airlines have the best award space ( I know United flies there, but there might not be very good award space or you can look at Cathay Pacific space using AA miles). Then focus on getting those miles. I would book the flights soon if award space is available since December is a very popular month to go to Asia. Worry about this before looking into Southwest Airlines and British Airways.
Grant! Cool I live in Irvine so I guess we’re pretty close by! For my first Bluebird deposit EVER, I waited (nervously) in the Walmart by the District for 10 mins for a $200 Staples deposit …. a few days later went to the one on euclid in Anaheim (b/c there was a kiosk) … the kiosk was down and there were like 20 people in line so I left!
Hoping to try the Walmart by the Spectrum on Technology sometime … hope the line isn’t long there…
Nice to meet another local. I went to high school at Northwood High if you know where that is. You can go to the checkout lines too. Most cashiers know how to load Bluebird Cards.
$12,000 down, $3,000 to go (across 3 BB accounts)! Loadin OVGCs at the kiosk to BB still works same as always. No changes whatsoever
Great work Jonathan, what will you do the other 25+ days this month?
I’m not sure! I just got approved for the paypal business debit MasterCard so I’ll take advantage of that. Can BB account holders also have a Go Bank card? How is the reload process different than BB at Walmart?
Yes, Go Bank is a Visa, so you can have that card in addition to a Bluebird or Serve Card. The load process is identical to Bluebird and Serve. They have higher daily load limits, $1,100 per load, $2,500 daily load limit. The bill pay is not as easy to use as Bluebird or Serve though.
Awesome! I just opened my go bank account! I’ve read that some accounts have got shut down for doing excessive loading/unloading. How much do you load and unload from your go bank card? Trying to stay under the radar!
Do a few thousand per month ($2-4k) but don’t immediately withdraw the funds to your bank account or do bill payment. Wait a few days between actions.
Hey Grant,
Been away from OC for about a month. Today bought 2, $ 200 Vanilla Visa Debits at the new Office Depot near the Irvine Walmart. That’s the only kind that they had. Could not load onto my BlueBird at either Money Center or cashier. Tried work around and other things but would not work. Then went to Foothill Ranch with same result!!! Got rid of them through Amazon Payments which I hated to waste on these. On another note, I went to two 7/11’s where I had always been able to purchase $500 cards with my INK. It appears that 7/11 has now hard coded their machines just like they did for the VR’s. Have you had same experience at 7/11’s? All in all, not a good MS day for me.
Steve — I would use the money pass kiosks rather than the money center or cashiers. Here is a link to locate a walmart near you that has one. Make sure you put “wal-mart” in the search.
http://www.moneypass.com/atm-locator.aspx
I have had no luck going to gas stations or “gas stations” and buying VRCs or other gift cards. I just give up.
Thanks Jonathan. I do sometimes make the longer drive to one of the Walmarts that does have a kiosk. Did the search and was surprised to see some other Walmarts that I could possibly try. Unfortunately the 3 closest stores to me do not have them.
Grant…Had two 7/11’s that always worked, but I guess no more. MS is not so much fun anymore:(
Cheer up Steve, when one door closes, another door will open shortly. Just stay calm.
I’ve had no problem with “gas stations” in my area, several of these “gas stations” will gladly sell $500 OVVGC and other GC’s with credit card purchase. Liquidating them is the tricky part for me.
Grant, does $200 MasterCard giftcard at Staples also can be loaded into BB at Walmart by using any 4 digit pin numbers just like the VanillaOne Visa?
Also, it seems like Walmart changed their policy today. I went to my local Walmart and loaded two $200 Visa gift card from Staples. Then the cashier told me the checkout line cannot do it anymore and have to go to Customer Service section (where people return things). Then over there they asked me for my ID (driver license) and made a copy of it, and they have a form called “bluebird transaction with prepaid gift cards” where I have to fill out my name, address, phone, date of birth….then it has a section where the cashier can write down the receipt transaction #, amount loaded, and the date. When I asked them why, they said it’s a new policy. Anyone has experience this yet?
You have to call the number on the back of $200 Visa or MasterCard gift cards from Staples and set a PIN before using them. My Walmart has never had me fill out any form. Try going to a different Walmart.
I believe the default PIN on the gift cards from Staples is the last four numbers of the card number. You should be able to just use that instead of calling to set a PIN.
I can confirm this. You need to call to activate, but setting a custom PIN is optional.
Yes, I just like to be 110% sure the PIN is the last 4 digits. Maybe I find the automated voice relaxing and soothing… PLEASE ENTER YOUR 16 DIGIT CARD NUMBER FOLLOWED BY THE POUND OR HASH SIGN. So relaxing…
A friend of mine reported a similar experience in San Diego at a Walmart. I actually don’t mind the idea of giving them my info. It could work to my advantage that they have this info if the money order gets lost or stolen.
I was concerned this morning, having received the email overnight with Alex W.’s experience, but I had no problems making two separate transactions this morning. Maybe the problem is that you were using the Staples cards which have a smaller denomination? The number of swipes might be the triggering event.
Can you or Alex forward the email to me? Thank you.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear. I received an automated email from your blog with the latest comment, which, at the time, was from Alex W speaking of the customer service desk requiring identification and information.
Went to Staples yesterday and was told you could buy only $2000/day per FEDERAL law…anyone hear of this before? Also, loading still needs a short break after $800
at WalMart kiosk.
I wasn’t aware of the daily purchase limit but that is in line with Staples online order limit.
Has anyone tried the workaround for the ONEVanilla at walmart? what is the success rate?
any difference between money order and Bluebird?
I tried both MO and BB last week before reading this trick and failed.. don’t remember seeing the yellow error it went to signature pad and then error..
I tried the westbury branch in NY
It really depends if you have an old POS system or a new POS system. My local Walmart uses the new color touchscreens and it is really easy to change the payment method after swiping the gift card. I have no experience using the old system, but it sounds like a bit more work.
I see..
so the NEW colored screen POS works fine but the old monochrome (which I think the one in my local wm) needs feedback from members as if it works or not..
Just loaded a $500 OVGC at the Wally World in Denver, CO. It initially rang up as a credit card. I tried hitting the Cancel (Red) button, but the cashier hit something on her side before I could hit the button. It immediately came up as Credit Card.
I explained it was a Debit Card and asked her to wait after I swiped so I could change the payment type. I hit the red button and the Options Screen came up right away. Hit Debit and entered the pin and loaded no problem.
Good work Will, some of those Walmart cashiers are pretty fast. You just have to be faster.
was this on an old POS? the monochrome screens?
No..it was the new color display, but it did not pop-up a yellow options box like some people have described.
Try pressing the red and yellow buttons right after sliding your gift card.
Loaded another $800 today. Different WM, and used $200 Visa cards from office max (pin set automatically as last 4 on activation).
Loaded 2 at money center. Workaround cancelled transaction, but just swiping the Visa card it took it as debit. No kiosk at that WM. Loaded the other 2 at regular cashiers – same good result.
Money center and cashiers all had new POS with color screens.
Easy day. Churn on.
Smooth sailing George!
Hey Grant,
Can you load the gift cards online with Go Bank? Wasn’t sure what he advantages are/were other than increased limits.
Thx
No, only in-store reloads for Go Bank.
just ordered my Gobank card. so any 7-11, walmart and kmart can be used to load the gobank using OneVanilla?
As far as I know, only Walmart will work. I have t tried the other 2 stores.
so to sum it up the onevanilla can only be used at walmart and online at evolve then?
Yes, exactly.
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Grant, Thanks for the trick with the POS, it worked with the older system today. it took me a while to get a hang of it.. you can not be shy with this.. you have to take charge before the cashier calls the whole store or cancels the whole transaction.. took double the normal time to put it through though.
press the cancel button once then it says waiting for cashier, press it again to get to the menu of payment types.. from there is smooth sailing..
Good work, glad you were able to get the POS system to work for you.
Just wanted to say wow, you answer a lot of comments! Sometimes, the same one repeatedly. You’re awesome. Thanks for teaching us!
Unrelated question.. regarding GOBANk.. I was thinking of loading $12.5K per month on it.. is that pushing the limits? I do not want to risk closing the account.. I dont mind paying them something per month if that means I can keep my account and use it at a higher capacity.. load in WM and pay Amex directly ..
what are your thought on gobank?
Wow, $12,500 is a lot more than I would recommend. They are trigger happy shutting people down, so I would probably stay below a $5,000 monthly reload limit. Don’t withdraw or do bill payments too quickly after loading your Go Bank account. People have had their accounts frozen and it takes a long time (months) to unfreeze and get access to their money, so don’t put more than you can afford to be without for a few months.
Thanks Grant.. alright I will treat it a bitt gentler than Bluebird
You’re welcome, Go Bank is much more fragile than Bluebird or Serve :P
Rumor is that Serve is charging $3.95 for WM reloads….
Yes, check my home page… Thanks Nola
In case you haven’t heard yet, it’s all over now. No vanilla at walmart, period.
Chris — what’s your source for this info? I loaded 5 $200 VGCs to my Go Bank card today on the Wal-Mart kiosk.
My source was friends, flyertalk, and personal experience. Are you sure the $200 VGCs were vanilla? If they were metabank or USBank gift cards, then they’d still work.
Which cards are no longer working?: Vanilla Visa, One Vanilla, and all Visa gift cards from Metabank and US Bank?
Grant,
Check out flyertalk :
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1514089-problem-loading-bluebird-vanilla-visa-gc-40.html
Just tried a vanilla visa onto my go bank card — did not work. Said “debit not available”. Grant! We need you!
I’m in France right now, nothing I can do from here :(
Thanks for the link. I get caught up on the latest developments.
Cards from US Bank and Metabank are still working… for now.
I tried the workaround loading via kiosk & pos, both didn’t work. They spit out receipt saying “Debit not available appr. Code = 96” also same message but code=94 also.. During pos cashier pressed button on her screen everytime, maybe that’s preventing me…? What do you think grant? Help!!
According to FlyerTalk (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1514089-problem-loading-bluebird-vanilla-visa-gc-40.html) many people are having problems using Visa gift cards at Walmart.
If this method is dead, how then should i drain my OV besides MO & AP? I need to pay this months auto loan but just can’t get it to load into my bluebird.. Do you know other methods? Should I get refund instead? I just completed a min. spend on a barclay card & the bonus points have already posted for me. Will I lose those points if I decide to get refund for my OVs?? Need help Grant….!!
How many $500 OVGCs do you have? Is your auto loan provider available through Evolve Money?
Hey guys.. I saw a message a few above that the Metabank (those are Staples, right?) are still working (for now). Can anyone confirm? My latest order didn’t arrive yet.. only did $1k because of all the confusion. But wondering if anyone can confirm this?
Yes, Staples and Staples.com sells Metabank GCs. They should work at Walmart.
Just loaded $1000 worth of Metabank $200 GCs that I bought at Staples about 30 mins ago. Where can we buy these in $500 denominations other than giftcardmall?
I think some grocery stores and convenience stores sell the Metabank gift cards.
People really need to do some basic research. Otherwise they will see whatever method they believe is still standing fall. Easy to search the web, people. For both you and WM employees.
Thanks for the kind words, x. I guess I misinterpreted the comments section as a place where people could ask questions and get answers.
I got 3 $500 OVGCs. It’s for American honda financial serv., can I use OV with evolve? Steps please..
MMS has a good post: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/04/16/use-your-credit-card-to-pay-utilities-student-loans-more-with-evolve-money/
I actually agree with x. This article is intended to document recent changes to the status quo. It wasn’t designed as a free for all for people to ask very basic questions like “what is serve?” “what are gift cards?” “how do I…?” etc.
Pretty much any question anyone has can be answered by Googling. Adding “flyertalk” to your search will help :)
I don’t mind people asking questions, you can usually find all the answers just by searching in the comments section. The problem is I have 6-7 pages that are all related to BB/Serve/GCs etc. so sometimes it can be hard to find the exact question/answer combo.
For the record, I am trying to take Marathon Man’s advice and keep a lower profile regarding gift cards loads at Walmart. Rather than explicitly saying “ABC cards don’t work, use XYZ cards instead”. One Vanilla and Vanilla GCs aren’t the only gift cards in the market, you will have better luck if you try other brands that rhyme with BS Rank and Fetarank ;)
Evolve bill pay works great. Any GCs that have lower activation fees than OVGCS if I’m going to be using Evolve for free from now on? Yeah using code language sounds good to me.. ;-) leave grant n other bloggers alone “Veterans”..jk..
You can use some Visa and MasterCard credit too.
1. code words are dumb. This info is available all over, and being frank here is the only thing that makes sense. Shutting us down is no one’s goal–we are the collateral damage in the war against money launderers. 2. As of today, U.S. Bank (and I strongly suspect, Metabank) no longer work either. The debit card must have your name on it to be accepted at WM. (for BB and money orders, both.) It appears to be hard coded.
In the past, many Walmart locations have no enforced the “your name must be on the card” policy, although some locations have enforced that policy for a few months.
I know, but I think there has been a sea-change. Someone, somewhere has made sure they all know “no name on the card, no deal.” These women, who have happily helped me in the past, were basically telling me that I was breaking the law and was a money launderer. I explained that a money launderer would probably pay CASH for the BB load or money order, but that didn’t phase them. They’ve clearly been taught (in the last week) that anyone who wants to load a BB with a gift/debit card is a criminal.
I have visions of people printing out their full name on Brother’s P-Touch labels and taping them onto the front of the gift cards. Would that suffice for name on the card? I have heard others will bring their real debit card and show the cashier that card if they ask, then swipe the gift card instead. I have never tried that, but might be worth a shot :)
Mbh – what happened when you used your USB or MB vgc at theoney enter kiosk?
I’ve never seen a working kiosk. Ever. I’m reading everything I can to see if the quick “cancel-work around” still works. If it looks like it does (which I doubt–since I think this is a hard-coded, system-wide change), I WILL find a working kiosk SOMEWHERE!
http://www.moneypass.com/atm-locator.aspx
There you go! Just make sure to type in “Walmart” in the search field. Make sure to specify if you are having problems with the CASHIERS or with the kiosk/software itself. I would say with the state of things right now to avoid cashiers completely and stick to kiosks.
I believe the recent workaround still works with US Bank and Metabank gift cards, not One Vanilla or Vanilla GCs.
Dear Grant,
Today on June 22nd I bought $1000 of Vanilla One Visa at CVS to reload BlueBird at Walmart in Boston.
Transaction did NOT got thru! PLEASE tell me: 1) Is THIS method 100% finished? 2) WHAT Cards could I buy WITH my $1000 of Vanilla One Visa that DO WORK to load my BlueBird? 3) I assume that I will lose more money to to buy more cards? As is, I paid $4.95 for the Vanilla One Visa. 4) Could Vanilla One reload any other mechanism to pay my Rent??
Vanilla One Visa said a Refund check for the $1000 would take 4–6 weeks. I NEED that money to pay my rent + health insurance + utilities ASAP. That is NOT practical for me.
I realize you are in Europe (lucky you!), but hope you can help me. Thank you VERY much. Waiting for your kind reply, Kim
Kim — from what I understand, it is just the Vanilla family of GCs that will not work at the Wal-Mart kiosks (I loaded $1000 worth of $200 GCs from Staples yesterday with no problems at all).
Try looking into unloading them using Amazon Payments or Evolve Money. But, yes, the days of using One Vanilla and Vanilla VGCs at Wal-Mart are, indeed, dead.
That is good advice Jonathan. I would say that Amazon Payments and Evolve Money are your bets chances. If you still cannot unload the money, you may want to do Google Wallet or PayPal, but it will cost you 2.75-2.9% for the payment.
Also, most stores will not let you buy GCs with other GCs, though you may have good luck if you find a friendly cashier. I even tried to do so on giftcardmall but my transaction was cancelled shortly thereafter. I would just try and avoid letting them actually see your OVGC before you swipe.
Here’s my take on this whole thing. I just loaded $4800 to BB via Kate in central Wisconsin (5 days, $1000 a pop); we have the new version of Kate owned and maintained by METABANK. This is crucial in understanding this in my opinion. Any Metabank card (Visa gift card from Staples–only ones I use at present, $200 variety) will work and any Vanilla product will not. I think Metabank is altering Kate’s software to accept only their cards and I think this is directed largely at the MS market. They are happy to swipe your cards to BB, but they will get $6.95 and up (you can go online to order big denominations). Machines that still accept Vanilla products with the work around do not have latest software update or are the older machine. Ordering the $200 Visa GC from Staples online works ok and if you have INK Bold you get 5x plus 2x bonus and the Visa Edge savings. This works presently without fail, as always be careful. I had some variable Vanillas ($20 and $25 for experiments) and I cashed them out on Evolve paying my son’s student loan. The funds went to interest, but I got rid of them that way. Evolve has new rules, so be careful with multiple loads to pay larger reoccurring payments.
Thanks for the data point Russ. How can you tell that the Kiosks are owned by MetaBank? Where do you look for the name?
In the lower right front of the cabinet facing you is a large white notice, it states the machine is owned, operated, and maintained by Metabank.
Excellent, thanks for the intel Russ.
I just went to Walmart and looked at the Kiosks and Russ is correct. I just wonder the Simon still work?
What bank issues the Simon GCs?
I believe US Bank
Those should still work. No reports of US Bank GCs not working.
Wrong–My report is a US Bank not working. today, at two different WM.
It may be a while. I don’t have a 3rd wm nearby, and have a fulltime++ job, so I’m kind of putting this card on the back burner and looking for easier forms of MS. I am fortunate that I can float that $500 without much stress. (Actually, I haven’t figured out how to get $ out of BB, yet, so I’m floating more than $500. ; )
There is a difference between a cashier telling you you cannot load a GC at the MC versus the POS system denying the transaction from going through.
mbh — didn’t you say earlier that you did not try them at a kiosk? If the teller shuts you down that is one thing — it should work at a kiosk. Try it and get back with us.
This evening I loaded BB at a Metabank kiosk and at cashier with USBank Visa from S-Mall
Thanks for the data point Tim.
Yes–thanks for the info. Do you mind sharing where you live (state)?
California
Cut and paste off “View From the Wing”. Seems to support my contention that Kate is programmed to reject cards that are not Metabank issued. Talking about Simon Mall GCs.
9.Kim said,
The Name on the GiftCard for WalMart is NOT the answer to the problem. On Sunday June 22nd, in Boston, my $1000 of Vanilla One Visa Gift Cards did not go thru because of WalMarts software. I called One Vanilla Visa—and they did NOT even see my attempts to load my BlueBird at WalMart.
Their IT people called today, to say the problem is on WalMarts end with a change to their software to not accept the Vanilla One Visas. They also said it will take 4–6 weeks to get a Refund Check. That’s insane!
Anybody have any ideas on what to do with $1000 Vanilla One Visa Giftcards to try to pay my: Rent + Health Insurance + Utilities that is coming up soon???
I think there are a few different and totally unrelated problems and people are getting them confused. Apparently, from what I have read (but not experienced), Kate/kiosk will not take Vanilla. May not take U.S. Bank either (I’ll try that and report back when I find a working kiosk).
At the Payment Center, any debit card will work if it has your name on it, and no card works without it (several of us have had the experience of them not even swiping it–they just look and tell you it’s no good without a name).
And, cashiers are luck of the draw!
This may not be 100%, but I’ve been reading everything I can find for 36 hours, and that seems to sum up what I’ve read. Let’s keep each other posted! (And I totally agree with those who caution against floating more than you can afford to be without for several months. I cannot imagine how stressful this is if you have to pay rent with that money!)
Sounds about right mbh!
I totally agree, there are at least 3 problems people are having:
1 – OVGCs and VGCs no longer work at WM MC or ATM.
2 – Some cashiers ask that your name be on the card (this is most ymmv)
3 – Only Metabank (Gift Card Mall) GCs are working at the WM ATM? Is that correct?
When I’m not working toward reaching minimum spends, I usually float $1,000 for a few days before unloading onto my Serve card. Ideally, the money would be floating for 10 minutes before it was loaded onto Serve.
At our mall, the Sim visa gift is from US Bank not Metabank. Just wonder it is OK will try to buy $100 and see how it works
One more data point confirming that Metabank work fine.
I tried to load Serve at checkout but the moment she entered 500, it said go to cust serv; So that must be hardcoded. I was able to load 2×500 at cust serv on the new IBM screen POS terminal. No red/yellow buttons required. At no point did anyone ask to see my debit card (I’m lucky, I know).
Grant,
When I first saw the acronyms of OVGCs and VGCs, I interpreted them as OneVanilla Gift Cards and VISA Gift Cards. So, I initially assumed that all visa gift cards were a no go:( After reading for awhile, it became clear that VGC is VANILLA Gift Card.
Yes, that is correct. I apologize for the confusion. Some Visa GCs still work, just not OVGCs or VGCs.
MB>WM Kiosk>BB worked fine for me today. I know we’re supposed to be speaking in code now. I hope that makes sense. Also noticed the MB logo on the machine.
I think the thing I’d like to know is are there any places where MB visa gc’s are available in denominations larger than $200 that can be purchased in person rather than online? I can’t seem to find any in local gas stations and such.
@Jonathan
I have not seen any.
The only $500 visa gift cards I have found (in person) are Simon visa gift cards at Simon Mall and OneVanilla visa gift cards at 7/11.
Jonathan, Charles, I think it depends on where you live. Some of our grocery stores in southern CA carry the variable load ($20-$500) MB’s
Yes, I think I have bought $500 GCs (not sure if they are MB or US) at Ralphs, Albertsons, or Pavillions (Vons/Safeway) in SoCal.
I hope to test, once again, S-Mall Visa GC to BB at a California Kate again this evening.
Cool- Tim! Let us know how it goes!
Good luck Tim, let me know how it goes.
Success @ Kate & cashier with S-Mall GC in CA just now
Thanks Tim, very good to hear!
Hi Tim,
Is it from MB or US card? How did u get away with no name in the card when u did with cashier. I want to try out with Kate but they shut down Kate since Sunday
Thank you very much and I hope I will find another Kate to try out since I want to contribute something. We should try to help each other not the blaming game as I saw at Flyertalk.
Cashier did not ask to see US card.
Tim–I agree with Hoang 100%. I too am searching for working Kate to unload US card and will report results. I may try cashier, but I’ve never done that before, and after my unpleasant experience at MC, I’m a little gun shy (I don’t appreciate being called a criminal). I know that I need to shake it off and move on–it’s just part of the game. I just don’t like that part. ; )
I just successfully loaded $$ at the customer service desk. I purchased from Walmart, the variable load Visa that says “Happy Birthday” on the front. It’s issued by University National Bank. It was very simple. I told the cashier that I wanted to load $500. She entered her info I confirmed the amount, then entered my pin. No problems at all, and I didn’t have to hit cancel.
so you bought variable load Visa from walmart with credit card and then loaded that to BB/Gobank or bought MO?
Yes, exactly. There are a couple different kinds. I was shocked that there were no problems. The swipe machines looked newer. I loaded this time to my serve card.
So, I would suggest to the people that are have a bunch of the one vanilla cards to buy the variable visa card from Walmart, then load your money onto Serve/BB. Of course, some money will be lost in the extra fee, but if you really need the money, that’s an option.
Shannon… a lot of places will not let you buy gift cards with other gift cards, but this will vary by location. It will be interesting to see if this is a hard code software issue or a cashier issue.
I’ve never had a problem buying gift cards with gift cards. AMEX gift cards work for me and I’ve used it as a debit card.
buy the variable from walmart using vanilla as a Credit card not debit..
the fee is 4.94$ per 500$
I had 10K$ in Vanilla and requested a refund … if you are not in rush for the money that is a better choice..
for the variable cards.. since it is 4.95$/500$ is good enough just to break even if you have to spend on a card.. isnce that is 1% and I do not know a credit card that gives you more than 1% at walmart.
have to find a supermarket or pharmacy for my blue cash amex to get 5% to make this worth it.
Thanks for the info
huh?! you can use AMex gift card as Debit? with pin?
I asked Amex customer service and they were clear that it is considered credit card only
No, the amex gift card runs through as a credit. I use the amex gift cards to by variable visa debit cards.
I see.. so if I can get the amex gift card for no fee at a profitable store then buy variable at walmart with those and load..
sounds good
That is very encouraging! Thanks for sharing.
Does the Metabank Visa cards (gowallet) need to be registered online to be able to be used at wallmart?
The original pin is the last digit on the back and I can not use them online on BB till registered but do I need to register each card also when I want to use to Load BB at WM?
You do not need to register the gift cards, just activate them online if they weren’t activated at the store. You can set the pin online to whatever you want.
In my GC (gowallet) it said using the last 4 digit number as pin number. There are many different design from gowallet CG, anyone has tried out different one? I only tried 2 different designs, the first one has birthday cake, loaded with Kate went smoothly the screen said done but the printout said error, got home got email from BB said successful. Read in some places, said the gray one is the best one. Using them and no problems at all. Today no problem but the printout was blank and went home log in BB see money there but not get email today !!! It seems in my area, people took the advice so all the gray one gone but many of them with birthday cake and a lot of them with red/pink color.
I have no experience buying those gift cards, so hopefully someone else can chime in with an answer. Ideally you want to get a receipt that says approved, get an email that says approved, and when you log into your Bluebird/Serve account you see the funds there. It’s a bit nerve wracking to have some of those steps missing.
USBGC>Kate>BB successful today!
does CVS have any US bank gift cards?
lovemytechy, I think it all depends on where you live. In SoCal, I tend to go to CVS & RiteAid for Vanilla products (yes I still use those in my program, just no longer with BB); MB’s at Vons/Pavillion and Ralph’s for US.
Just went to the mall bought SIM GC US, went to Wally, Kate took the break and went to cashier. Enter pin invalid 3 times OMG!!! what should I do. Went home call the number, choose option 7, it gave me pin number and came back it works.
Data point: live at suburban of Philly. Need the pin by call the number in the brochure. Hope it works for a while since it a cheapest way.
Reporting in: Kate still down (always the case in my neck of the woods, at both WMs nearest to me). So, I tried the cashier (first time for me). This is the store where I was read the riot act about money laundering from the MC when I didn’t have my name on my debit card last weekend, so I ain’t heading back there until I have a fancy name-on-it card.
But, the cashier was a piece of cake. She was nice and friendly, and didn’t seem to think I was a criminal at all. Whew. Ready to try another, now. (I’ve gotten a little paranoid, and never want to hold more than 1-2 GCs at a time.) I think it’s time to find out how to pay some bills from BB. I have been so worried about getting the money INTO BB I haven’t given much thought to getting it OUT. ; ) (For those collecting the big picture data points, this was a US Bank card, and I’m in Atlanta.)
Hi MBH,
Do you need the pin number before to see Wally?
Yes all the cashiers were very nice even the Manager. He tried to turn on Kate but no success, I believe he may not have the right code.
USBank has the PIN on the package when you open it, so I already had it. And, yes, I did need to put it in.
Thanks. The one I got at the Mall is the SIM gift card and the saleswoman just took out one from a bunch of them with different design and no pin or package. She just it in the small envelop along with instruction paper. Last Sunday, I also ask another person and she said no pin needed. For $2.95 fees no complaint here just need to call and get the pin.
mbh, it is easy put it back to your bank or write to your spouse/kids a check. Another thought, just send me a BB check, just kidding
Learned a lesson today about Kate. I have 2 BB cards. Went to Kate with 2 MB GC’s and 2 US GC’s in hand. At $500 each, I thought I could load $1K onto one card and $1K onto another. All within the daily limits, right? The first 3 went through fine. I was zooming through this, and THAT was my problem. While attempting the 4th one, I got a message that an associate would have to help me complete my transaction “for my protection.” And there was no way for me to cancel it and walk away. I’d already swiped my cards, and I couldn’t just walk away with all of my info in there! I was stuck until some one finally came and helped me. She entered her associate info and a message popped about about daily limits. I didn’t read all of it but I knew that I hadn’t reached my daily limit in the that card. So I just told her to cancel the transaction. Then I waited a few minutes, tried it again and it worked. Lesson learned. Kate doesn’t like 4 identical transactions within 3 minutes, even with two different BB accounts. Next time, I will take my time. Maybe shop between transactions!
I’ve learned the max you can do at a time is $1500. I was loading multiple accounts. You have to wait at least 10 minutes before you go back to load your account.
I’ve seen several people say that you can fly through it if you only load $1900. Or, even $1999. It’s the magic “2k” that upsets Kate. ; )
Please take it easy !!! More people try to do this they will take notice and may report to manager. We have something working now keep it under the radar.
Yes, Hoang, I will take is easy from now on. And that’s why I posted my experience here so that others will also know that Kate likes to take it easy!
Nora Chase, I am sorry I did not mean you personally just in general we should try to more gentle with Kate.
I believe you can load $1,999.99 and be fine. If you do $2,000 then you get that error message. Some people do $1,500 then take a break and do the next $1,500.
any idea where to buy UB orMB debit cards from in NY area?
CVS only has vanilla variety
lovemytechy, how about at Simon Mall which there are a lot of them at East coast
thanks Hoang,
I have 2 CVS 5 min from my house and got lazy I guess.. lol I was just reading about simon malls and found one 30-40min from me I will give it a go when I get a chance.
Check your local grocery stores.
My SIM has a lot of them VISA with different design and only 5 miles away. Just bought 2 and went home to get pin number option #7 and set both of them same pin # so easy to remember. Went to Wally no Kate but thing going smoothly with Money Center very pleasant and helpful. The first time I bought 2 of them since I can handle $1000 in case not working out with gas, grocery,…. It is 40% – 50% cheaper than CVS though, but CVS is so close for me too. This way is not only good for meeting the minimum spending requirement but also good for buying miles or points.
found a supermarket that carries US bank 500$ cards locally..
how is the pin on US bank cards?
I think you just call the number on the back and follow the prompts. Very easy to do.
Any card with US Bank works?
Yes I believe so.
Thanks. I just went to Giant Food store and saw the gift card from Metabank. there are many designs and it mentions gowallet.com cost $5.95 and the initial pin number is last 4 number of the card. Just wonder will I earn points with Giant. It costs more than Simon but more convenience.
Yes, you will earn any rewards your credit card offers for grocery stores.
One word about Simon malls before you trek 40 miles for a gc–my local Simon Mall only carries the Amex cards–no Visas. So, it may be worth a call before you go.
yes mbh I am a bit afraid of that
I am a bit busy I will do some local search in a week or so
thanks
Three recent personal experiences that may be of interest here: Bought my first $200 visa gc’s via Staples recently. (Thanks Grant for your handy primer on how they work — your detail gave me confidence to try it) Then took them to Wally World today, and loaded them both with a cashier who knew just what to do — went fast. Second, about Simon Malls — yes, perhaps good to call. Yet I’ve found several that DO carry the Simon Visa card — and they too were ez to load at WMT via cashiers — I keep it humble, one at a time) Third, I walked into a BP convenience market in a different town today — and discovered they still had the VRC’s…. and they take the CC’s for them. (but the new cashier today hadn’t been trained as yet in how to activate them. Ironic…. will check w/ manager on Monday…. other BP’s in my area had run out of them weeks ago, and have yet to restock….)
Thank you for the data points. Glad you are sailing smooth everything.
Another data points: bought a Meta GC at Giant Food Stores in PA, got 2000 points = $2 off per gallon at Giant gas station. Went to see Kate, every thing went smoothly but the printout said debit not approved. However, I went home and saw email load successful !!! May be printout from someone else?
Hi Will,
May I ask where do you live? VRC at BP is very interesting.
Hi Grant,
I have a quick question. I can never seem to be able to use the Kiosk’s at Walmart. I always get to the enter PIN and I do but then it just keeps popping up enter PIN. I have no problems taking them to cashier but usually have to wait in line and could be awhile sometimes. I have been using the $500 Visa Gift cards from Kroger (US Bank). They come with a pin inside. Do I need to register this online or am I missing a step? Any information that you or anyone else reading would be grateful. If I need to use different cards that would be fine if you let me know which ones wok at the Kiosk, but everything I read is saying that these cards work. Just need some information about how…
Thanks for your time,
Hmm, it seems like you are doing everything fine. I don’t use the kiosk so I’m not sure why you’re getting that error. Can anyone help?
Kiosk is broken. It’s a 9 pin problem. You need to find a different WM.
Sounds about right to me.
Hi Rick,
In order to conclude the Kiosks broken or did not work you should try with the same card with the cashier. Going there at the early morning, around 2 PM weekday, I found out not many people there. So far I have no problem at all with either Kiosks or cashier. The problem I had was I thought with Simon GC issued by US Bank that I can use random pin or the last four number of the GC, I was dead wrong I had to call them to get the pin number (machine voice), I change the pin to the one I remember and I did it for all the cards I got since I am old man easy to forget.
Once the KIOSK doesn’t work, I always go to the cashier and it works fine. The only issue with using the cashier is sometimes they don’t know what to do or just don’t want to do it. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes or more to find someone to do it for me. Would just be a lot easier to be able to walk in use the KIOSK and leave.
You can also go to most cashier checkout counters. They can load gift cards for you too.
Hi Grant,
I agree with you it is the best time. I also looked around since I have a Walmart very close to my home less than 1/2 miles. I looked for a cashier to see how they deal with customers and here I found out: the young girl is the best next is an older woman but with her take your time with a smile. I used to them I need to send money to my daughter in San Diego (it is a true statement but not all the time). Nothing better than Kiosks though, except recently I got no printout and a blank printout.
Grant, when you come back to OC? We will be there for Christmas holidays until Jan 3. Hope to see you there. We stay at West of Anaheim near Cypress. We may meet at California Fish Grill and it will be my treat.
I’m back in CA, got back last Sunday. Let’s talk more around Christmas/New Years and maybe we can meet up.
I like going before work at around 7:40am. I’m the only person in the store.
Just went to grocery store and buying another GC gowallet issued by MB. Only the Birthday cake design left and I know it worked last time except no printout or an error printout but I believe from previous customer. Went to see Kate and it worked but again I got blank prinout just like yesterday. Went home see money in BB and an email from BB. I am happy and earn another 2000 points = $2 off per gallon gas. Anyone from the East coast should take this advantage of this promotion from Giant Food store or Stop & Shop (I believe they own by same company).
Thanks for the update Hoang.
Hi everyone, Thanks Hoang for the interesting grocery store tip. Does anyone know about grocery stores in or around New York city itself?
Here is the link using Google:
http://www.stopandshop.com/store/locator/?_requestid=922159
No wonder I wasn’t getting any results for Giant. Giant has no stores in NYC but Stop and Shop does. Thanks very much for sharing that link, Hoang.
Hi Grant,
Quick question related to BB checking policy. The check should be less than $2000, what if I write 2 checks?
I’m not sure, I’ve never written a Bluebird check. I have Serve Cards now.
I tried 2 Walmarts today using the ‘change payment/debit’ and was rejected all times…tried loading 2 vanilla visa gc (debit). I was not fast at selecting the option and was prompted to select an option after confirming the amount I wanted to load ($500), would the speed of selecting ‘debit’ make a difference in being declined? The lady told me that the vanilla cards do not work and it needs to be a regular debit card, but it was a typical Miami employee that did not care if the system would have authorized it.
Can I pull the money out of these $500 gc’s, or find a way to spend on something else.
Thanks in advance for any help with this…
D
ps. Is it worth (easier) if I get a Simon GC and choose a pin prior (I have a few local simon spots in my area).
The change payment method trick doesn’t work for Vanilla gift cards. Walmart’s POS system is blocking all Vanilla gift cards. You will have better luck with a Simon GC.
Yes, the Simon Visa GC worked fine for me both at Kiosks and with cashiers. In this game, you should follow the blog everyday and buying one at the time so you do not got stuck.
I am now locked into the blog and will follow every day…thanks for the advice all. I actually tried Evolve and it worked great to pay my auto loan, so at least I am not stuck. I will try simon and report back to all on how it worked.
Is the best use to not only pay loans, etc, but to also use the BB card to pay for a credit card bill. I am fortunate enough to use my personal cards for business and get reimbursed, but if I add paying a bill or two (or even paying for what I pull in GC), it would be a huge mile multiplier.
Thanks all!
D
Danny,
If you have a Serve card, you can try loading the vanilla card to your Serve account via Family Dollar but limited to one $500 gift card per day.
After much weeping and gnashing of teeth, I was finally able to load two $500 USBank VDGC’s to my BB at the WM kiosk today. (I had been unsuccessful several times over the last couple of weeks). Either WM relaxed their policy some, or maybe there’s a dwell time after setting the PIN (?). Anyone else have sudden success after a string of fails?
Hope lives!
I’m not buying any Vanilla GCs anymore. I’ve moved on to other Visa GCs.
So how do I use the Vanilla Visa Gift card to change into a new card I can load to BB, or just cash out
Try to use the card to buy a different Visa gift card. Or you can cash out with Amazon Payments or Evolve Money.
Just load your Vanilla GC at Family Dollar. You can only load one a day
I do not live close to a Walmart.
1. Are there ATMs or Kiosks in other stores where I could load my AMEX Serve card with a Visa Gift Card?
2. If not, I could go to a cashier at Family Dollar – are there other stores that support this?
Thank you.
Walmart and Family Dollar are the only stores that will let you load your Serve Card with a gift card.
I saw a post in another blog that OneVanilla Visa GCs were working again at WM. I have not confirmed this myself. Wondering if anyone else has tried recently (?)
I have loaded several USBank VDGCs recently and had no problems, even did $2k in one trip to WM. Anyone tried the MC version from USBank?
MC USBank needs to be called in and set a pin before you walk in to wM.
I have had a very hard time buying any gft cards on Credit card recently in Long island, NY any manager Is poke with is scared of it since they have been robbed by fraudulent credit cards.. they don’t even trust the ID cards as they could be stolen or fraudulent..
1- or 2 manager who trust me never have the 500$ in stock..
criminal have to go to jail so the rest of can leave in peace and trust.. this is sad
New York is hard on MSers.
OVGCs are indeed working again but require the change payment workaround.
I guess people complaining to VISA about Walmart worked..
I filed a complain about walmart to visa and also filed for $10K refund including fees to onevanilla..
People from visa actually got in touch me and investigated the issue.
I can only get onevanila around here .. will go give it a try again
So went to WM today and tried OV one more time..
out of 4 OV gift cards 3 went through on my GOBANK account no problem the 4th one did not go through..
then tried it at 499.99 on go bank still did not go through
tried it on Amex BlueBierd and it did not go through
so my conclusion:
Gobank 3 transaction with ONE vanilla goes through (total 1500$)
Bluebird is still a dead bird when it comes to Onevanilla
do not have serve account to try ..
all together OV is a garbage card..
I used it at costco as debit but if I tried the cash back while I am checking out it would decline the transaction..
OVGCs seem like hit or miss. I have one that didn’t work last week. I will give it a try this week.
please let us know if it works this week…
I am thinking maybe some of the old batch with restriction is mixed up with the new batch of cards without restriction..
Last time I got 10K$ in OV refunded and they said if I buy it again I can not request refund.. so I am more carefully with this card,
I’ll let you know how it goes for me. I have a card with an 06/2022 expiration date. The cards with that expiration date have been working most of the time.
all my 4 cards has 04/22 for expiration .. I can not find what make that card stand out
Grant did you figure out why some onevanilla visa gift cards work at walmart and some dont?
or is there a limit?
I did not figure out why, but I have some guesses. I think the OVGCs are made it batches with particular expiration dates and card numbers. For some reason, some batches or parts of batches work and others do not.
Thanks Grant..
the OV was a big blow..
with the amount of fraud on gift cards most store managers are scared to sell any gift cards with credit card payment ..
how do you cash out the OV that does not work in walmart?
I have a 500$ card in my wallet for a month and could not find a way to cash it..
You can use it with Amazon Payments, or you can try to use it to buy a different gift card (some stores may allow that), or you can liquidate it with the AMEX Target.
can you elaborate on amex target?
Amazon payment is limited to 1k and I have to use that already for some credit card spendings
Check out this page for more info on the AMEX Target: http://travelwithgrant.com/bluebird/bluebird-gift-cards-without-walmart/
thanks for the link..
considering Vanilla Reloadable can not be purchased with credit card at cvs any more .. how do I cash out the target account?
How to use the Money Center ATMs/Kiosks to load into Serve? There is no option for Serve card. Should we select Bluebird? Thanks.
Yes, select Bluebird and the rest of the steps should be the same.
Grant, what do you think about the gift card fraud situation which is apparently really bad here in SoCal where we both live? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manufactured-spending/1588993-gift-card-fraud-20.html
I’ve been monitoring the discussion on FT, and it appears that one of a Vons here in the San Fernando Valley where I buy a lot of my GC’s has been hit with fraudulent cards. Now I am afraid to buy them. What about buying them on giftcardmall.com? Are those viewed as cash advances?
I buy many gift cards from GCM and they count as purchases. I have a page here: http://travelwithgrant.com/how-to-guides/order-visa-gift-cards-from-gift-card-mall/
Hi Grant,
I just came back from Simon Mall after buying 3 Visa GC. The person there saw I have business credit card so she told me I can apply for business with Simon so I can buy higher than $500 GC and still pay for $2.95. I just wonder can we load $1000 with one GC to BB?
You can load $1000 at a time to Serve or Bluebird.