Are you seeking an affordable and convenient way to handle all your money matters? Walmart MoneyCenter is a viable option. The services offered by Walmart MoneyCenter are diverse and deliver the convenience of improving your overall experience. Some of the core services to expect are check cashing, money transfers, bill payments, and so more. However, what are Walmart MoneyCenter hours? Let us understand in depth.
Walmart does not simply offer access to groceries and major store items to the customers. The retail giant is also renowned for offering on-site financial services at a dedicated place known as the MoneyCenter. The dedicated platform of MoneyCenter provides a wide range of the same services -including banking, check cashing, and checking accounts. This either serves as the convenience or the ultimate banking alternative for consumers out there.
What is Walmart MoneyCenter?
The MoneyCenter by Walmart is quite similar to a conventional bank branch -offering access to specialized products and services that can be utilized by individuals to execute day-to-day banking activities. Walmart MoneyCenter offers exclusive services like securing installment financing, sending money, printing checks, cashing checks, arranging tax preparation services, buying money orders, and even paying bills. Members of Walmart MoneyCenter can access the respective funds with the help of partners of Walmart.
What is the Role of Walmart MoneyCenter?
Just like a conventional bank, the Walmart MoneyCenter is helpful in providing access to dedicated products and services for consumers -assisting in performing day-to-day banking transactions. Walmart MoneyCenter is not known to hold the respective funds by itself. On the other hand, it goes ahead with partnering with other leading institutions to deliver a wide array of banking services.
A well-known product that is marketed by Walmart MoneyCenter is GO2bank by Green Dot. It is a famous mobile checking account. The mobile-based checking account has a monthly fee of $5. The fee is effectively waived upon signing up for a direct deposit. GO2Bank is FDIC-insured. Therefore, the respective amount of money deposited in the account is protected on federal grounds. It offers access to standard banking services like debit cards, online payment of bills, and access to the ATM network.
The Walmart MoneyCenter also offers access to a wide range of rewards-specific debit cards. One such card is the Walmart MoneyCard, which is issued by the Green Dot Bank. The card earns around 3 percent cash back from online purchases made through Walmart and one percent cash back across Walmart brick-and-mortar stores -around $75 per year. There is a monthly fee of $5.94 for keeping the card open. However, this fee gets waived when you will ensure direct deposits of around $500 every month.
Another leading debit card that is made available through Walmart MoneyCenter is the Bluebird Account debit card. While it is referred to as the account, the Bluebird debit card is not any formal bank account. Moreover, it is not even FDIC-insured. However, your funds will be eligible for FDIC insurance at the respective custodial bank in case there is no temporary card. The Bluebird account debit card can also be utilized for transferring money (around $2500 daily) within the United States of America.
Walmart MoneyCenter usually remains open from 8 am to 8 pm. The opening hours might still vary depending on the particular store.
What are the Services Offered by Walmart MoneyCenter?
- Bill payment: Consumers can go ahead with paying bills across Walmart stores with the availability of more than 20,000 billers.
- Bluebird American Express Prepaid Debit Account: It is available as a fee-free debit card that can be utilized for receiving direct deposits while also making online bill payments and ensuring money transfers seamlessly. Moreover, the card can also be used for reloading cash at Walmart.
- Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard: It is available as a credit card that helps you earn around 5 percent cash back at the online store of Walmart. It will also include pickup and delivery of grocery items. Moreover, you receive around 2 percent back on Walmart stores.
- Check Cashing: Customers are able to cash personal checks worth around $2000 along with other checks of around $5,000 in turn for instant cash. They can also have the respective amount added to the Walmart MoneyCard.
- Check Printing: You can order checks in-store or online. These checks can be customized.
- Coinstar: It is a dedicated kiosk from where you are capable of redeeming your coins in the form of gift cards, cash, or a charity donation.
- Go2bank Account; It is a mobile-based bank account that is offered by the Green Dot Bank.
- Netspend Visa: It is a prepaid, reloadable debit card without the involvement of any money fees.
- Walmart MoneyCard: It is a debit card provided by the Green Dot Bank. The card comes forth with a myriad of benefits -including the absence of overdraft fees, free online services for the payment of bills, Walmart purchases, or cash rewards.
- Walmart2Walmart Money Transfers: It is a dedicated service for ensuring money transfers within countries like the United States of America, Mexico, and Puerto Rico -offered by Ria.
- Services for Tax Preparation: These services are offered by Jackson Hewitt with the help of on-site professionals across more than 3,000 stores. These services are aimed at helping consumers file taxes with the help of appointments.
Can Walmart MoneyCenter Be Regarded As Safe?
Both Walmart MoneyCard and Go2bank accounts are FDIC-insured. Moreover, the Bluebird account by MoneyCenter also possesses FDIC pass-through insurance. There is an exception only on temporary cards.
There has been major controversy with respect to the overall safety of money transfers provided via Walmart MoneyCenter. Recently, in June last year, the FTC went ahead with suing Walmart for not being able to prevent customers from getting defrauded with respect to hundreds of millions of dollars. The particular lawsuit puts forth the allegations that from the period of 2013 to 2018, Walmart did not pay any attention while collecting profits out of fees. On the other hand, fraudsters continued using the money transfer services of the retail giant for specific schemes like relative-in-need scams, IRS impersonation, and so more.
As per the lawsuit, an amount of over $197 million in the form of payments to & from Walmart became subject to common fraud-specific complaints. There was an additional amount of $1.3 billion in the form of payments with the potential for fraud.
Amongst a wide range of FTC-specific complaints that went up until 2014, Walmart did not present any written form of anti-fraud policy. Since then, the retailer has continued violating the respective policy multiple times. It could be a major concern for consumers out there with respect to the money transfer services of Walmart.
How to Search for the Walmart MoneyCenter Hours?
To come across the Walmart MoneyCenter Hours for the respective local store, you can go ahead with searching for Walmart Store Finder. Here, you can enter the ZIP code or the particular city & state. The Walmart Store Finder will go ahead to reveal the respective store hours for the local Walmart store. You can also think of reaching out to the local Walmart store while asking for Walmart MoneyCenter hours.
Additionally, you can also consider using Google Maps to come across Walmart MoneyCenter hours. In Google Maps, you can simply type the term Walmart MoneyCenter and follow the same with your ZIP code or the name of the city & state in the search bar of Google Maps. As you will enter, a dedicated list of Walmart MoneyCenter in your locality will come up -in addition to the respective Walmart MoneyCenter hours.
What are the Best Alternatives to Walmart MoneyCenter?
Walmart MoneyCenter serves as an effective option for customers who are not able to open a dedicated bank account. It is also a viable option for those who are in search of overall convenience. However, you can still search for other banking options as well.
In case you have a negative or adverse bank report, a second-chance checking account can be a great choice. The given type of account will offer you the chance to repair your poor banking history. The account also offers potential access to an in-depth ATM network along with FDIC insurance. However, you should understand that these accounts are mostly available with increased prices in comparison to standard checking accounts.
Conclusion
Walmart MoneyCenter offers access to similar financial services to that of the credit union or a bank. However, it does not feature the entire scope of services made available by a bank. Moreover, recently, the company and its services have received allegations with respect to enabling fraudsters to leverage the benefit of the respective money transfer services.
