Dollar Tree is a variety store that sells snacks and toys for low prices, but it also offers a few financial services as well. If you don’t have a traditional bank account, you can still visit this store to reload a prepaid debit card. This store does charge an additional fee for this service, but many bank branches will charge you fees if you don’t have an account there as well. Anyway, here are the financial services that are available at Dollar Tree.
Does Dollar Tree Cash Checks?
Dollar Tree doesn’t cash third-party checks. It doesn’t have a check-cashing service, unlike grocery stores such as WinCo, Walmart, and Ralphs. You can still use a personal check to pay for your purchase at Dollar Tree stores, though. But this store might not carry enough cash to cash payroll checks, government checks, and other types of checks.
Does Dollar Tree Sell Money Orders?
Dollar Tree doesn’t sell money orders and it doesn’t cash them either. Some dollar stores can sell money orders because they have partnerships with Western Union and MoneyGram, but it appears that this store doesn’t. If you’re looking for an alternative, Dollar General does have a partnership with Western Union and other dollar stores may sell money orders as well. You can also buy money orders at CVS drugstores.
Can You Send or Receive Money at Dollar Tree?
Dollar Tree doesn’t offer money transfer services either. Again, these services are usually only available at discount stores and variety stores through partnerships with money transfer companies such as Western Union. These companies often set up pop-up branches inside the stores or provide their services at dedicated service desks, and you might not be able to use them in standard checkout lanes. If you’re looking for an alternative, you can send money transfers at drugstores like CVS and Walgreens as well as many supermarkets.
Can You Reload Prepaid Cards at Dollar Tree?
You can reload prepaid cards at Dollar Tree. It supports Green Dot as well as other prepaid card networks. If you plan to reload a card there, you should know that Dollar Tree charges a $1 card reloading fee. Other stores may charge you as much as $5 for this service so this is a good deal. You should also know that some prepaid card networks only allow you to use cash to reload your card. Walmart and Ralphs also have partnerships with Green Dot and provide card reloading services.
Can You Pay Utility Bills at Dollar Tree?
Dollar Tree doesn’t offer bill payment services at most of its stores, but they may be available in a few locations. Family Dollar has a partnership with the bill payment service PayNearMe and you can pay utility bills at its stores. Dollar Tree owns Family Dollar and there are now some Dollar Tree/Family Dollar stores that are likely to offer bill payment services. Dollar Tree may also add support for PayNearMe at its other stores in the future.
What Are Dollar Tree Alternatives That Provide Financial Services?
Walmart offers several financial services, including utility bill payment and debit card reloads, at its in-store money centers. It also has higher transaction limits for financial services than other stores. Like Dollar Tree, it’s also known for its low prices.
CVS doesn’t cash payroll checks, but it provides many of the other commonly used financial services that are available at retail stores such as money transfers and prepaid card reloads.
Circle K provides several financial services such as check cashing, money transfers, and utility bill payment. It’s a convenience store so it might have higher prices than dollar stores but it does have many locations.
Conclusion
Dollar Tree could be a useful place to visit if you just need to reload a prepaid card. It doesn’t provide some of the other financial services that are available at other grocery stores and banks, although bill payment services may be available at some locations. This is understandable, though, because stores need to keep lots of cash on hand to provide some of these services and that requires them to take on additional safety and security risks. It’s likely that grocery stores and big-box stores can safely handle more cash than dollar stores.