Update 11/12/20: There are now numerous data points of swipes being limited to $49.99 or $50 at Walmart. In addition to FlyerTalk, there’s now a good discussion going on in the comments on my post about this on Frequent Miler, so check that out too for other people’s experiences.
Update 11/9/20: There have been data points on FlyerTalk and elsewhere that there’s a limit of $400 per swipe at Walmart. That doesn’t seem to be the case for everyone, but it does appear that this restriction is in place for many around the country.
Update 11/1/20: I’d held off a little while before publishing this post a couple of days ago as I wasn’t sure if there was a temporary glitch or if it was a more widespread problem. More data points poured in over the course of 24 hours though which suggests it was specifically Simon Mall gift cards having issues at Walmart and Kroger.
Since then, data points have been all over the place. Some people have had issues with other MetaBank gift cards at Kroger and Walmart, as well as at Albertsons/Safeway family of stores. Sometimes people are able to get a card to work on the 3rd or 4th swipe, other times not at all.
It’s therefore not entirely clear what’s going on, although it does seem like the issue might be on the MetaBank end. If so, that’s a pain in the backside but is actually good news as it means stores haven’t hardcoded against Visa gift cards purchased from Simon Mall. While things are still unclear though, it might still be worth exercising some caution when placing large orders of Simon gift cards.
There have been reports over the past 24-48 hours that Visa gift cards purchased from Simon Mall have been getting rejected at Walmart and Kroger.
At Walmart, Money Services transactions have been getting declined, while Kroger has been declining transactions at the Customer Service desk and when purchasing products at self checkout.
With Walmart and Kroger being two of the most common places where people use Simon Mall Visa gift cards, if these issues continue (and they’ve presumably been implemented deliberately by the retailers) this will greatly limit the appeal of Simon Mall being a source for these cards.
My understanding is that this is an issue with Visa gift cards bought both in-mall and online. That had the potential to make a difference seeing as the cards you buy from Simon Mall online have your name on them, but apparently both kinds are proving to be an issue.
This is another good reminder that it’s always good to have more than one way to liquidate Visa gift cards to ensure you’re not sitting on a large number of them if your usual outlet(s) go away.
I’ve had the issue at both walmart and kroger this week but have also had it work at self check out and also at the money center on 2nd try with different SM GC. I’ve read that the issue is with the network approval from Metabank (the card issuer) and not walmart or kroger.
Yep, that seems like it might be the case now – I’ll be updating the post.
Is there a difference between the Simon RewardCard vs the Simon Gift Card? The Reward card does not have the word ‘gift’ on it at all and from ready the fine print it can be used the same as the gift card. Am I missing something as I don’t see anyone talking about this card?
To be honest, I’m not sure if there’s a difference. I just had a quick look and I’m not immediately noticing anything notable, but there might be something I’m not thinking of.
The Rewardcard is not eligible to be purchased by MSers.
I feel like it’s straight up wrong of you to presume anything. You don’t know why this is happening, and various forums have had contrary information (indicating that the reason is on the MetaBank side). You’re a great journalist and are better than this.
When publishing this, all the DPs I’d seen had suggested it was only Simon GCs having an issue at Walmart & Kroger. Since then though, DPs have been all over the place and I’ve seen reports of other MetaBank gift cards having issues, as well as at Safeway/Albertsons family of stores. I’ll be updating the post to include that.
Nick, what the hell do you want? Someone to walk into the risk management office in Bentonville and ask?
Been Happening for weeks now.
Brandon Neth made a post on it on the 16th.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/manufacturedspending/permalink/814265799114397/
I think things must have happened more widely as a couple of days ago there was an influx of reports that this wasn’t working.
I just liquidate the $1000 in a walmart super store, no problem
Good to know – thanks.
No issues today at Walmart using Simons GC.
I had issues when getting 2k in mo. WM checks ids and is rejecting them when you give Id. Get one for 999.12. No Id no problems.
It just happened today for me for gift cards bought at staples. I tried 2 different cards and both of them declined. First time ever it happened to me with meta bank gc
Last Friday tried to load $200 on to BB at my go to WMT with a just received Simon $1,000 VGC purchased online. The transaction was declined with, “Debit Not Available Code = 56” error. Then told the clerk to try again but I switched to a Staples purchased $200 VGC which loaded on to BB.
I tried to load a bluebird (WM) with a Metabank visa and it was denied, invalid payment method. Went to the money center and it worked with no problem. That was last Friday.
should say the denied was at a checkout
I’ve been having issues for the last couple of weeks with my online Simon VGCs at WM. Transaction will decline initially maybe 30-40% of the time but I just retry and it usually goes through on the 2nd (and if not 2nd, then 3rd) attempt. Fortunately the cashiers at my store are pretty low key and don’t mind it.
No issues yesterday (11/1) at Walmart using Simons GC.
I tried 4 of my friendly WMs today (11/6) with various Simon VGCs & tried some cards 3x, I also tried over/under $1k so with & without ID. None worked. They had been working about 60% on first try the past couple weeks, but nothing today. Off to my grocery store for $500 MOs that still work.
I tried to load money with visa GC Simon and officemax today. Both declined with invalid code. I even used my BOA just to complete the transaction so won’t need the manager to cancel the transaction, it got declined too. Probably problem with their system?
It’s the same for Sunrise bank vgc.