Update 11/2/18: As of 11/1/18 the new rules are now being enforced. Nationwide, apparently. Interestingly, the $.88 fee counts in the $1,000 limit so if you hit $1k exactly with the fee included, you WILL have to give in your ID. Note, this $1k ID requirement only includes your driver’s license/ID number, not your SSN. That’s different than a SAR which requires your SSN.
Original Post from 10/14/18:
I heard a rumor a few days ago about changes coming to the Walmart MoneyCenter on Tuesday, October 8, and now there’s a blog post from Millionmileguy with the details and pictures of the memo.
Here are the changes:
- If you buy $1,000+ in money orders, the system will ask for identity verifications. Previously, the threshold was $3,000.
- Total money order purchases will be limited to $8,000 per customer, per day. Previous limit was $10,000.
- Bill-pay is now limited to $8,000 per rolling 30 days. Previously the limit was probably $10,000 per day.
Here are images from Millionmileguy:
Not sure how many people still use the Walmart BillPay option for manufacturing spend since many credit card issuers are sensitive to that. The $10k to $8k change doesn’t seem like a big deal for most people either.
The big change here is the $3k to $1k for money orders: people regularly buy $1,998.40 in money orders and pay with four $500 Visa prepaid cards. Such a purchase will now trigger identity verification which is obviously time consuming and intrusive. Should still be possible to drain two $500s by purchasing a $999.30 money order without requiring identity verification. Not sure if loading $1,000 to a prepaid card will also trigger ID verification or if the ID requirements are for money orders only. I’d guess prepaid loads will require verification at $1,000 threshold as well.
Surely this is an MS hit, though one can argue that it could have been worse.
