Mobile deposit then cash check at Walmart

Save yourself a trip to the bank with in-store check cashing at Walmart

If you find yourself in a bind and you need to get cash quick, save yourself the hassle of trying to get to your bank before it closes, standing in a long line at a check cashing store or trying to find an ATM on your way home. While you're doing your shopping in Walmart, cash your check here as well. Not only do you get your cash immediately, you can also save money doing it. Saving you money is what we do best, and our low prices, every day, on everything is just one of the many examples of how we do this. Allowing you to cash your check hassle-free and for a low fee is another.

How to cash your check

We make it simple for you to cash your check while you're at Walmart. All you need to do is present your endorsed check to the cashier at our Money Service Center or Customer Service Desk, along with valid identification, and pay the required fee. There's no need to register to cash checks with us or to have either a Walmart store credit card or Walmart MasterCard. Once you have completed this process, you have your money in a matter of moments.

What kinds of checks we cash

There are a number of different checks that we can cash for you at checkout lines. These include payroll checks, government checks, tax refund checks, cashiers' checks, insurance settlement checks and 401(k) or the retirement account disbursement checks. In fact, as long as it's a pre-printed check, it's likely we can cash it. If you're unsure, please visit our customer service desk to inquire if you have a check that doesn't meet the listed criteria. In addition, we also cash MoneyGram money orders as long as they were originally purchased at Walmart. The only types of checks we cannot cash are personal checks.

Cash limits and the costs to you

As of 2018, we have a check cashing limit of $5,000, although we increase this limit to $7,500 from January to April of each year. Our check cashing fees are $4 for any checks up to $1,000. For checks between $1,001 and $5,000, the fee is $8. Two-Party Personal Checks are limited to $200 and have a max fee of $6. Check with our customer service department to see how much the fee is for checks of more than $5,000 during the January to April time frame. Keep in mind that if you have a Walmart MoneyCard, which is our reloadable prepaid card, you can also have some or all of that money loaded onto your card and the reload fee that we typically charge for the service, which is $3, is waived. However, note that the check cashing fee is still applied.

How to get a Walmart MoneyCard

If you want to cash your check and have some or all of the money placed onto a Walmart MoneyCard for convenient shopping, but don't already have one, you can do so in one of two ways. You can apply for one in-store and, if approved, receive it and use it that day once you have paid the $3 set-up fee. If you prefer, you can also request one online at WalmartMoneyCard.com. After you receive it in the mail, you can hand your card to the cashier to load your cashed check funds onto it and you'll not have to pay the initial $3 set-up fee.

Benefits of the Walmart MoneyCard

The Walmart MoneyCard is a prepaid card that works just like a debit card, and it's loaded with your own money. It comes with either MasterCard or Visa branding and is used for purchases and cash advances. It also gives you other advantages like allowing you to set up direct deposit with your employer and possibly receive the money two days earlier than you'd typically do so from your bank. You can also get rewarded by using the card. This includes getting 3 percent of your purchase price back when you use the card at Walmart.com, 2 percent back when you get gas at either a Walmart-branded gas station or one operated by Murphy USA and 1 percent back when you use the card at a Walmart or Sam's Club location.

Other amenities from using the Walmart MoneyCard are being able to get your tax refund check faster than a paper check through direct deposit from the IRS, and being able to send and receive money easily through MoneyGram and our online bill-paying service. You can also use the MoneyCard to send money to someone else that has either a Walmart MoneyCard, PayPal account or any prepaid debit card issued by the same company that issues the Walmart MoneyCard, which is Green Dot Bank.

As an old hand of the business tax world and veteran business growth consultant, I’ve been around money for a really long time. I’ve seen both the new and old ways of doing things – and each system comes with a distinct set of pros and cons. A type of check fraud that would have once been unthinkable is now pretty easy for the unscrupulous to do.

Do you remember going to the bank as kid?I do. I remember walking into the bank with my parents (or, on an even better day, utilizing drive-thru banking and watching that amazing tube thing transport cash and documents between the teller inside and my parents’ car -- I thought that was so cool).I’d watch intently as my parents endorsed checks, handed them over to the teller, and then got actual cash in return.The whole thing fascinated me.

Fast forward a few decades.Today, our paychecks are deposited directly, and any other check that’s written to us can be deposited using a smartphone.Banking looks really, really different -- so different, in fact, that my children have rarely if ever, stepped foot inside an actual bank branch (or sat in the line outside)! I never go to a bank anymore for small personal needs.If I utter the phrase, “I need to deposit this check,” someone hands me my phone.The whole concept of banking is radically different than it used to be.

The convenience of mobile banking is astounding and, by and large, a pleasure.But the dark side to it all is a new wave of “double presentment” fraud plaguing banks and businesses.What used to be impossible, cashing a check twice, is now possible thanks to a lack of communication between old and new technologies.It’s something you need to be aware of, even if you don’t personally utilize mobile banking.

BGW CPA explains cashing the same check twice

The situation goes like this: A person receives a check from you and deposits it using the mobile banking app on their phone.Then, several months later, still in possession of the paper check, they take it to a branch or an ATM and cash it again.Bank technology is really great at catching double presentment at the same institution when the same method for deposit is used — the same check deposited twice using the same mobile phone, for example -- but it’s terrible when someone uses multiple methods of deposit (first the phone and then the ATM).And then there are the cases of people cashing checks using multiple methods at multiple banks, which is even harder to catch. Most banks’ review mechanisms are powerless to identify and reject items that have been previously deposited at other financial institutions.

Either way, here’s the rub: As the payer, your checking account can get dinged twice for the same exact check.For small businesses on a tight budget, it can be a real issue, and one thing all business coaching services agree on is that paying invoices more than once is a killer for cash flow!

Audit firms note lack of security as a major cause of double presentment

Working in accounting and business services, it’s a little hard to believe that banks can be so loose with handing out mobile banking access to new account holders, but the law of supply and demand made it so denying online privileges was simply bad for business.

When mobile banking was new, banks were very judicious about granting remote deposit privileges to account holders, and that kept fraud rates very low. Tenure with the institution, deposit history, and average daily balances dictated which consumers or businesses were granted mobile deposit eligibility. But demand for mobile banking quickly increased, and those denied the privilege at one bank simply packed up and took their business to another, where security was lower.That pressure to accept remote deposits from anyone (and for any amount) left banks racing to compete with each other to offer mobile services, and they favored speed over safety in the process.It’s only logical that fraud ensued.

Tips from a business coach on how to protect yourself

As an experienced business coach consultant, I’ve seen first hand how losing track of the checks you write can come back to bite you. It’s easy to do, particularly in a day and age when most businesses aren’t writing a ton of paper checks.

Our business CPA firm recommends following this list of tipscompiled by The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for consumers using mobile banking services to better protect against double presentment. Examples include, setting up balance alerts and frequently checking account balances.

Remember that even if you don’t use mobile banking, you can be a victim. All it takes is an old-fashioned check written by you.

• Do not rely on your bank’s technology to catch errors.
• Be vigilant and go over your account statements very carefully to keep an eye out for multiple drafts of the same check.

For a larger business writing a lot of checks, particularly in a business to consumer setting, hiring a professional accounting service can provide an extra set of eyes to protect you from this and other types of financial fraud.

Does Walmart verify checks before cashing?

What checks will Walmart not cash?

What do you do with original checks after mobile deposit?

How long does it take for a check to clear after mobile deposit?