Where can I buy a money order with my gift card?
As a follow-up to our post on purchasing money orders with gift cards, I wanted to share more detail on which gift cards can be liquidated where. If you haven’t read that article yet, and are interested in liquidating your gift cards via money orders, then I suggest you read that first. Here, I’ll focus on which gift card types can be used at three of the most common locations for purchasing money orders: Kroger affiliates, Safeway affiliates, and Walmart.
Now, to give some context, you may know that Visa / Mastercard gift cards fall into different buckets, or gift card “networks”. The various networks are the different institutions that operate the gift card. You can usually find the network that your gift card belongs to, by checking the back of the card. Typically, gift cards fall into one of the following networks:
Blackhawk Network
U.S. Bank
Incomm
Vanilla
Metabank
Serve
Depending on the network, you may or may not be able to purchase a money order using that card. So to help, this post outlines which cards you can use in which location. This will be a live list that we will maintain over time, and is based on mine and other’s personal experiences.
Kroger Affiliates
These are generally the following: Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith's, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, City Market, Owen's, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker's, Gerbes, Harris Teeter, Pick 'n Save, Metro Market, Mariano's.
Metabank Cards
Staples: Works
“Everywhere” VGCS:
Grocery Everywhere: Works
Dining Everywhere: Works
Style Everywhere: Fail
U.S. Bank Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Vanilla Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Incomm Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Serve Cards
Visa: Fail
AmEx: Fail
Walmart MoneyCard
Visa: Works
Safeway Affiliates
These generally include the following: Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Markets, and Balducci's Food Lovers Market.
Metabank Cards
Staples: Works
“Everywhere” VGCS:
Grocery Everywhere: Works
Style Everywhere: Fail
U.S. Bank Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Vanilla Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Incomm Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Serve Cards
Visa: Works
AmEx: Fail
Walmart
Metabank Cards
Staples: Works
“Everywhere” VGCS:
Grocery Everywhere: Works
Dining Everywhere: At Neighborhood markets
U.S. Bank Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Vanilla Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Incomm Cards
Visa: Works
Mastercard: Works
Serve Cards
Visa: Works
AmEx: Fail
