Tag Archives: Gift Cards

State of the Union: Bluebird, Serve, and Go Bank Reloads at Walmart with Gift Cards as of May 30, 2014

UPDATE 6/20/14: Do not use OVGCs or VGCs at Walmart.  Use other gift cards from other banks.
GC WM BB

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).

Continue reading →

(Rumor) Walmart Updates Point of Sale (POS) Software, Making Bluebird/Serve/Go Bank Reloads Difficult

UPDATE 6/20/14: Do not use OVGCs or VGCs at Walmart.  Use other gift cards from other banks.

Old Update from 5/31/2014: see the updated results here.GC WM BB

(Rumor) Walmart Updates Point of Sale (POS) Software, Making Bluebird/Serve/Go Bank Reloads Difficult

According to recent comments on my blog and this FlyerTalk thread (link), it looks like Walmart updated the software on their Point of Sale (POS / cash registers) sometime yesterday, making it difficult to load gift cards with PINs to your Bluebird/Serve/Go Bank card.  The general consensus that I have heard is when people swipe their One Vanilla Gift Card, Vanilla Visa Gift Card, or other gift card, they see an error message on the screen or the cashier tells them that the card is being processed as a credit card, not a debit card.  Continue reading →

Earn Cash Back Buying Groceries with Checkout51

This is an updated post, with more information and detailed instructions.
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Earn Cash Back Buying Groceries with Checkout51

Sign up for Checkout51.com.

Checkout51 is a digital alternative to clipping coupons and bringing them to your local grocery store.  This service is perfect for people who are:

  • Too lazy to cut out coupons.
  • Forget to bring their coupons.
  • Too embarrassed to use coupons.
  • All of the above.

Here is how Checkout51 works:

  1. Browse your offers and buy products at any store – yes, any store in the US or Canada.
  2. Upload your receipt using Checkout51 – online or with their smartphone app.
  3. We’ll confirm your purchase and credit your account – usually in 1-2 hours, or sooner.
  4. When your account reaches $20, you can cash out and we’ll mail you a check.

It really is that simple.  They publish new offers every Thursday morning and all the coupons are good for a week until Wednesday night at midnight PST/PDT.  You can take a look at the list of coupons whenever you want and see if there is anything you want to buy.

Here are this week’s offers (offers might have changed if you are reading this after May 28):

Weekly Offers1

To read the entire post, please click here.

PSA: Keep Track of your Bluebird or Serve Monthly Reload Limit

BB Bluebird Changes

PSA: Keep Track of your Bluebird or Serve Monthly Reload Limit

Good evening everyone, this is just a friendly reminder to keep track of your Bluebird or Serve monthly reload limit.  You should always know how much you have loaded onto your Bluebird or Serve Card and how much you have left to go.  If you have one card, it is easy to keep track of your reload amount, but it gets exponentially harder as you try to keep track of 2, 3, 4 or more cards.

I created a handy excel spreadsheet that you can download and fill out in my post Keep Track of Bluebird/Serve Transactions.  If you are not sure if you need it, answer this quick question: how much have you loaded onto all of your Bluebird or Serve Cards from May 1 through today?  

Don’t guess, you should know.  There is no worse feeling that driving all the way to Walmart, standing in line for the Money Center counter/ATM, and being told that your gift card cannot be loaded onto your Bluebird or Serve Card.  Whenever I hear someone say that they were unable to load a gift card to their Bluebird or Serve Card, I immediately ask people if they have already maxed out on their $5,000 monthly reload limit.  Most will answer, no without thinking, then when they log into their account, they will see $5,000 in reloads magically appear.   Continue reading →

My $503.95 Dilemma with CVS and American Express

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My $503.95 Dilemma with CVS and American Express

The following is a long, true story.  The names and places have been blacked out to protect the innocent.  Enjoy…

Some background information first.  On March 28, I went to my local CVS and bought 2 PayPal My Cash Cards.  I tend to split my *large* CVS purchases onto different receipts to eliminate the need to scan my drivers license and today was no different.  I grabbed 2 PayPal My Cash Cards from the gift card rack and brought them up to the checkout counter.  There was no line in the morning and I chatted with the cashier for a few minutes.  The first PayPal My Cash Card loaded fine, but the second card did not ring up properly.  I told her I would go grab another card from the gift card rack.  That PayPal My Cash Card rang up fine and I took both cards and receipts home.  I used my American Express Target card and a really old American Express Prepaid card (pre-Bluebird).  Here is a copy of receipt #1:

Original CVS PayPal Card Receipt

I was able to drain both American Express cards with one purchase.  Life was good.   Continue reading →