Walmart sells a wide variety of products in its supercenters but that’s not all it offers at its stores. Its stores also have money center counters that provide several financial services. More services are available at this store than other stores, and it also has higher transaction limits than some of its competitors. Because of these factors, if you don’t have a traditional checking account and need access to financial services you might want to visit this store. Here are the financial services that Walmart provides.
Does Walmart Cash Checks?
You can cash checks at Walmart’s money centers and this includes both personal checks and payroll checks. While there’s a transaction limit of $200 for personal checks, you can cash payroll checks that are worth thousands of dollars at Walmart. The exact threshold may depend on state check-cashing laws, though, and the store itself may also decide not to approve very large transactions. Supermarkets like Ralphs and Vons also offer check-cashing services but typically have lower transaction limits than Walmart.
Does Walmart Sell Money Orders?
Walmart sells money orders at its money centers and it also cashes them. This is noteworthy because the drugstore CVS is one of the only other stores that cashes money orders, although many supermarkets and drugstores sell money orders. Additionally, Walmart has partnerships with Western Union and MoneyGram while many of its competitors only have partnerships with one money order provider. It’s possible to buy money orders for more than a thousand dollars at Walmart as well, which is higher than the limits at other retail stores.
Can You Send or Receive Money at Walmart?
You can also receive money transfers at Walmart and you can transfer money to both domestic and international destinations there. Walmart not only has partnerships with Western Union and MoneyGram, it also has a partnership with the remittance provider Ria. Ria also provides a Walmart to Walmart money-transfer service within the United States. Again, these services are also available at other retail stores but fewer stores, including Kroger, support multiple money transfer services.
Can You Reload Prepaid Debit Cards at Walmart?
You can also reload prepaid debit cards at Walmart. Unlike other stores, Walmart will allow you to reload a prepaid debit card with another debit card at its money centers, unlike other stores that only let you reload cards with cash. You still can’t reload a prepaid card with a credit card at this store, though. It’s likely that Walmart also has higher prepaid card reload limits than other stores. As always, you should bring your ID along with you if you’re planning to reload a prepaid card at this store. Green Dot, Walmart’s banking partner, is being monitored by federal regulators and may strengthen its KYC practices as a result.
Can You Pay Your Utility Bills at Walmart?
Walmart also offers bill payment services so you can visit a money center to pay your electricity bill or your water bill. It provides its bill payment services through partnerships with both Moneygram and CheckFreePay so you have a choice of which service to use. You may need to bring a paper copy of your bill or a smartphone that can display your bill to use a bill payment service.
What Are Walmart Alternatives That Provide Financial Services?
CVS doesn’t cash checks but it provides several of the other financial services that are available at Walmart. Walmart has higher transaction limits than CVS, though.
Walgreens has Western Union kiosks in its stores that provide a few financial services, but these kiosks don’t provide as many financial services as a Walmart money center.
Rite Aid also provides commonly used financial services such as money transfers and utility bill payment to its customers. Again, Walmart has higher transaction limits than Rite Aid and offers a few services such as check cashing that aren’t available there.
Conclusion
Walmart performs well in a comparison with other stores that offer financial services. It offers all of the most widely used financial services that are typically available at retail stores and it also has higher transaction limits than many other retail stores. Additionally, in many areas it has partnerships with more than one financial service provider so you can pick the company with the service that works best for your purpose.