The word on Flyertalk and Reddit and Flyertalk is that, as of the past week or two, most Walmart MoneyCenter ATM machines (a.k.a. Kate) no longer work to load prepaid cards with Visa gift cards. Assuming this is a permanent change, it’s probably being rolled out in stages as a few people are still having success.
Note this issue is specific to the Walmart MoneyCenter ATMs (cough, the few that aren’t out of order), and it doesn’t affect loading prepaid cards with a Walmart cashier or at Dollar General or Family Dollar. Also bear in mind that many Walmart ATMs are ordinary ATMs that never had the capacity to load prepaid cards; the news here is that even the enhanced MoneyCenter ATMs are no longer working for most.
As we all know, Amex shut down the prepaid cards of those who manufactured spend on them, and thus the Death of Kate doesn’t have a major impact. Still, some have live Serve cards or other prepaid cards, and it’s worth keeping in mind that you’ll likely end up at the Walmart cashier or customer service as the MoneyCenter ATMs aren’t working for most.
Let us know in the comments if you are having success with the Walmart ATM.
So I assume everyone here is on a suicide mission for the remaining Serve/BB/GB cards and MS whatever you can before shut down? Might as well I guess right?
I used to purchase MOs using the machine $499.30 for $0.70. Sure you can purchase $999.30 for $0.70 by interacting with a live person, but my cost per point/mile has never gone above $0.0040. So, I’m very sad.
I haven’t been able to load my one surviving BB at Kate for several months but until last week had no problem at Money Center or cashiers. Last week one money center just could not get it to load but at another money center it loaded normally. No rhyme or reason. btw, the way I have kept BB alive since January is to only load, no withdrawals, ATM, Bill pays, nothing except an occasional swipe (once a month or so) of a few dollars at WMT or Costco. Sure my balance is getting pretty high, but I just consider it a non-interest-paying savings account which is worth it to me because my ms works out to net negative cost after Amex syncs and other promos.
Kate in Ft Mitchell doesn’t seem to be allowing loading anymore and even stopped MOs the last time I was there and didn’t have time to wait in line.
This is my first comment on this site. Have been following for years. I have been MSing for some time and at WM since 2014. WM was my default place to both purchase VGC (if I didn’t want to bother with cashback portals and such) and loading the bird and goBank. I was at WM nearly every other day, so I can offer my observations. First, whether purchasing VGC’s or loading Bluebird/goBank, the ultimate success of the transaction is very much register (most important) and cashier (2nd important) dependent. The moneycenter ATM – while working at the one Super WM I frequented – was notoriously loud and had a lag-time that was just unbearable. The cashiers I’ve dealt with are competent and know how to operate the register. For no discernible reason, I will have difficulty either purchasing or loading. There were times where the transaction would decline, stating tender not allowed for purchasing VGC. Turned out that it was entirely because the EMV chip was not snug inside the pin-pad. I tried again, adjusting the pin pad downward so I could insert the card with a little force. Presto, no problems. Even the cashiers are like ????. For loading, I have found that success depends on a few variables including time of day, what TYPE of pin pad is the register connected to and whether the cashier swipes your prepaid card to load or whether you swipe it prior to the cashier inputting the load amount. Also, I have found that despite every effort, there were times I couldn’t load at a regular WM a mile from my house – but when I went to the Super SM five miles from my house, I experienced no difficulty. I chuck it up to system congestion or issues. 2-3 years ago, Neighborhood WM registers absolutely would not allow VGC purchase with CC. Period. At the time, the pin-pads were old, no color screen and though it had a slot for EMV, it was never used. Same went for loading pre-paid with VGC. No go. So, I avoided them. Fast forward to a few months ago, I started to get desperate because every WM I went to suddenly replaced all their Sunrise and USB VGC’s with ones backed by Green Dot. And I didn’t notice right away because the packaging was identical to those issued by others! So, I went to a Neighborhood WM a few miles away and luckily found a few Sunrise VGCs. Well, it turned out they replaced their pin pad machines that illuminate blue when ready to swipe/insert EMV (these are the preferred pin pads to use). I decide to give it a try and though I was ready to fight for those VGCs, the transaction went smoothly. WM no longer sells Sunrise/USB/Metabank VGCs in my area anymore. They have all been replaced by Green Dot. However, aside from what is mentioned here regarding Staples/Office Depot, Home Depot and Lowes sell Sunrise/Home Depot VGCs at a max increment… Read more »
I went back to WM tonight to load my last GC and Kate no longer works for me. It gave me the error. I was able to load at customer service with no issues.
There should be a round up of the deaths of many MS methods during the last five months. It’s an MS mass memorial. Walmart for MS-ing is dead to me unless I can find the courage/patience to wait in line and spending a long time at the Money Center to buy MOs.
I was able to load $1200 on Saturday and another $1200 on Sunday. This was all to a Go Bank via Kate. I am about an hour from Chicago.
Have you been doing those numbers reliably every month? I’ve heard GoBank will kill accounts that load and then transfer that new money out.
I use it on a limited basis and I rarely use bill pay. We were using it for Aldi purchases, no cash back but we no longer do that since Aldi takes cc. We also use it to pay the taxes on our house.
Is Kate in your area still alive?
I am going to Chicago this winter, I wonder whether it is worth to have a detour to load my Gobank card quickly.
Thanks!
I was able to unload 10 cards thru customer service in San Diego during the long weekend. I think the staff here are more MS-friendly than in L.A.
I’ve even been having trouble buying vGCs from WM at registers. They’ve been spitting out the tender not allowed error.
I had “tender not allowed” today as well. Additionally when I tried to purchase at regular register it came up “go to service desk”. So it seems this store has blocked purchases at all registers besides service desk? And KATE is gone… replaced by a regular ATM.
I don’t get it. The foot traffic (I NEVER go to WM) has to be good for them as I am sure we all usually pick up a couple items. What little does it cost them to have a KATE or sell a VGC? Shortsighted idiots!