There’s been some discussions recently that Walmart might stop the loading of Bluebird/Serve and the purchase of money orders with PIN-enabled Visa gift cards. Personally I have noticed that store managers are shutting down their Money Center ATMs more often. Also, I have been approached by employees in two occasions in recent weeks, with a form to fill out (which has occasionally happened to many people).

Looks like changes might come April 1st, and the halt of PIN-based debit cards might be hard-coded in the register not to allow these cards according to MilesToMemories. If this does happen, then it will be rolled out slowly to their Money Center ATMs as well. I use the ATMs most of the time to load my Bluebird. The news was first mentioned on Twitter by Ben Turnbull @turnbullben who said “new Wmt memo. Prepaid card loads to serve will be hard coded to decline next month. Only bank”.

One of the cashiers at a Walmart near me in Long Island, NY that I have chatted with a few times, didn’t know anything about changes to prepaid card loading. Doctor of Credit has reported that one of his cashiers mentioned that she had previously heard the rumor, but it seems that they won’t go through with it.

There’s definitely been some talks at corporate level regarding PIN-based debit card usage, but nothing is certain for now. My advice is to proceed with caution and not overstock on GCs. Unload them as soon as you purchase them, until we find out more about the possible upcoming changes to our dear Walmarts.

Let us know of any recent experiences that might point us to either direction!