Walmart MoneyCard Review
The Walmart MoneyCard is a prepaid debit card with low costs ideal for those who shop at Walmart. For Walmart customers, it’s among the best prepaid card offerings. This review covers the card’s features, fees, and card limits.
Walmart MoneyCard® Visa®
Pros
- Low Fees
- Cash Back Rewards
- Card Limits
- Waivable monthly fee
Cons
- ATM Fees
Walmart MoneyCard Overview
The Walmart MoneyCard is available for either the Visa or Mastercard networks and can be used for purchases anywhere Visa and Mastercard are accepted. In addition, you can use the Walmart MoneyCard to pay bills for free with the MoneyCard’s bill pay feature.
The Walmart MoneyCard offers several methods to load money on the card, four of which are free. You can add money without charge through direct deposit, check deposit through the Walmart MoneyCard mobile app, and transfer from a bank account. In addition, Walmart MoneyCard users can deposit cash to the card at Walmart stores for free using the MoneyCard app. For a fee, you can load cash to the Walmart MoneyCard using Walmart Rapid Reload ($3.00) or the Green Dot MoneyPak (up to $4.95).
Walmart MoneyCard® Visa® not what you are looking for? Check out other options in our Best Prepaid Debit Cards list.
The mobile app offers card users anytime access to check the card balance, see recent transactions, and locate Walmart stores or ATMs.
You can get cash from your Walmart MoneyCard at the register or the customer service desk at Walmart locations without charge. You can also access cash from your Walmart MoneyCard at any ATM, but ATM withdrawals come with a fee of $2.50.
Features
The Walmart MoneyCard includes most prepaid cards’ core features, such as direct deposit. But it also provides features unique to the Walmart MoneyCard, such as cashback rewards.
Cash Back: Using the Walmart MoneyCard, you earn 3% cashback at Walmart.com, 2% cashback at Murphy USA and Walmart Fuel Stations, and 1% cashback at Walmart stores, up to $75 in cashback rewards per year. Cashback rewards can be redeemed online or through the mobile app.
Savings Account: The Walmart MoneyCard also includes a savings account feature to plan for a spending goal or an emergency fund. The account allows you to transfer money from the card to your savings and earn 2% interest up to a $1,000 balance. However, you can’t spend the money in your vault unless you move it back to the Card balance.
Free Cash Reloads at Walmart: Walmart offers free cash reloads at Walmart stores. You use the mobile app to take advantage of this feature. The app generates a bar code scanned at the register to complete the fee-free deposit.
Mobile App: The MoneyCard has a free mobile app for iPhone or Android devices. You can use the app to check balances, view transaction history, or transfer money to your savings vault. You can also use it to deposit checks.
Prizes: As a bonus, Walmart MoneyCard users have a chance to win cash prizes awarded monthly (up to a $1,000 grand prize) for every dollar saved to their savings vault each month.
Family Accounts for Teens: Walmart recently added free family accounts, allowing families to obtain additional prepaid cards for their teenagers. There is no cost for the additional cards. And the primary account-holder controls transfers to the family accounts and can view all transactions on the cards.
Text Alerts: With text alerts, you can get information about the card’s balance and individual transactions, among other things. Here’s a list of the text alerts currently offered:
| If you want to | Text this command to 43411 |
|---|---|
| Get your available balance | “BAL XXXX” (XXXX is the last 4 digits of your card number) |
| See your transaction history for the previous 30 days | “HIST XXXX” (XXXX is the last 4 digits of your card number) |
| Find a reload location | “LOC ZZZZZ” (ZZZZZ is the zip code or city, state) |
| Find nearby ATMs Refer to the Fee Plan for applicable ATM fees |
“ATM ZZZZZ” (ZZZZZ is the zip code or city, state) |
| Find a nearby Walmart gas station | “WMGAS ZZZZZ” (ZZZZZ is the zip code or city, state) |
| Show the text commands above | HELP |
| Stop receiving all text alerts | STOP |
Walmart MoneyCard Limits
You can have up to a $10,000 balance on the Walmart MoneyCard. That’s higher than most prepaid cards. The maximum daily spending limit for the card is $3,000, about average among prepaid cards. The ATM daily limit is $500, again about average for prepaid cards.
Fees
Walmart charges $1.00 to purchase the MoneyCard. However, the MoneyCard charges no monthly fee if you load $500 or more with direct deposit on the card during the prior month. Otherwise, there’s a $5.94 monthly fee.
The Walmart MoneyCard charges no transaction or purchase fees.
ATM withdrawals cost $2.50 in addition to any fees charged by the ATM owner. But you can avoid ATM fees by getting cashback when you make a debit purchase with the card at most retailers (including Walmart).
How the Walmart MoneyCard Works
Loading Money
There are several ways to load the Walmart MoneyCard.
Direct Deposit: You can load paychecks and government benefits checks on the card via direct deposit. Direct deposit is free.
Cash Loading at Walmart Stores: You can deposit cash to the card for free using the Walmart MoneyCard app at Walmart stores.
Walmart Check Cashing: Walmart offers check cashing services for a fee of $3 ($6 for checks over $1,000 up to $5,000). When using the check cashing service, Walmart waives the cost to load the money to your Walmart MoneyCard. Walmart will cash the following checks:
- Payroll checks
- Government checks
- Tax checks
- Cashier’s Checks
- Insurance settlement checks
- 401(k), retirement distribution checks
- MoneyGram money orders purchased at Walmart
Online Bank Transfer: If you have a bank account, you can transfer funds to the Walmart MoneyCard online for free.
Walmart Rapid Reload: Finally, you can load your MoneyCard using Walmart’s Rapid Reload service. Walmart charges a discounted fee of $3 at any Walmart Money Center to load the card. For all other prepaid cards, Rapid Reload costs $3.74. In addition, you can use Green Dot Reload @ the Register or MoneyPak. The MoneyCard doesn’t charge a fee for those options, but the service agent will charge $4.95 – $5.95.
Using the Walmart MoneyCard
The Walmart MoneyCard works like a credit card or debit card. You can use it anywhere debit Visa or Mastercard is accepted like grocery stores, gas stations, shopping, and other retailers. In addition, you can use the card online with Amazon, eBay, other online retailers and for just about any bill that takes credit cards online. And, of course, you can use it at Walmart.
Getting Cash
There are several ways to get cash from the Walmart MoneyCard.
ATMs: You can use the MoneyCard like a bank debit card to withdraw money from an ATM. The MoneyCard’s fee is $2.50 per transaction, plus any fee charged by the ATM owner.
Cash Back at Retailers: Many retailers allow you to get cashback when making purchases using a PIN. That’s free.
Walmart: You can get cash from your card at Walmart Money Centers and Walmart Customer Service Desks. Also free.
How to Get the Walmart MoneyCard
Getting a Walmart MoneyCard is easy. There is no credit check, no Chexsystems inquiry, or income requirements. However, as with all prepaid debit cards, you need a valid social security number.
You can get the card by clicking the apply button above.
Summary
The Walmart MoneyCard has most core features that users would look for in a prepaid card, and it can be an inexpensive card for users using direct deposit or loading the card with enough to qualify to waive the monthly fee. However, many of the benefits and convenience features apply mainly to Walmart customers, such as the cashback features or the ability to withdraw cash at Walmart to avoid ATM fees.
Best For: Walmart shoppers, prepaid card users looking for a prepaid card with no monthly fee who will load more than $1,000 per month, and those frequently making cash loads to their card.
Not So Good For: Prepaid card users that can’t qualify to waive the fee, those not regularly shopping at Walmart stores