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If you need to pay a bill or buy something with a check and you don’t have a checking account, a money order is a good solution. For starters, a money order is cheap and easy to obtain — you can pick one up at your local Walmart.
Money orders are like cash. Once you purchase one, you can use it to pay an outstanding bill through the mail or give money in person. The recipient can cash your money order or deposit it in their bank account.
How Much Does a Walmart Money Order Cost?
While the exact charge varies by store, it’s no more than $1 at your local Walmart, and that’s a very competitive fee. The U.S. Postal Service, by comparison, charges $2.10 for money orders up to $500 and $3 for money orders between $500.01 and $1,000.
What Is a Walmart Money Order?
A Walmart money order is essentially a prepaid check. To get a money order, you pay the amount of the money order’s value at Walmart plus a small fee. Then you’ll be issued the money order, which you will fill out to include your name and the recipient’s name.
One of the main benefits of a money order is that it’s paid in advance, meaning it can’t bounce like a personal check can. Money orders are issued with numbers, so they are traceable. You can usuallycancel and reissue a money order if it’s lost or stolen, as long as you have saved the stub containing all the required information.
Walmart Money Order Payments
Credit cards are not accepted as payment for a money order at Walmart. If you need to purchase a money order, you will need cash or a debit card.
Once you have your Walmart money order, remember that it is as good as cash. Walmart advises you to complete all fields, such as your name and the name of the recipient, as soon as you buy it.
Walmart MoneyCenter Services
Walmart is not a bank; however, it can issue money orders because they are prepaid financial instruments. If a money order isn’t sufficient for your needs, the Walmart MoneyCenter offers many ways to transfer money. In fact, Walmart MoneyCenters offer a host of financial services, including the following:
- Credit cards and Walmart MoneyCards
- Money transfers via MoneyGram, Western Union and Walmart2Walmart
- Check cashing
- Check printing
- Bill pay
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Does Walmart Cash Money Orders?
Walmart cashes MoneyGram and Western Union money orders for a fee. You can also cash a money order at banks, check-cashing services and certain retailers, including grocery stores. Wherever you cash a money order, you’ll need an ID to prove you are the lawful recipient.
Walmart also offers check-cashing services on various financial instruments, which can be helpful if you expect a payment exceeding the $1,000 money order limit. Walmart will cash any of the following:
- MoneyGram or Western Union money orders
- Cashier’s checks
- Tax refund checks
- Payroll checks
- Government checks
- Insurance settlement checks
- 401(k) distribution checks
- Two-party personal checks in some locations
Walmart has a check-cashing limit of $5,000, but it is raised to $7,500 from January through April to allow larger tax refunds to be cashed. For a two-party personal check, the limit is $200 and the maximum fee is $6. The cost to cash checks and money orders of $1,000 or less is a maximum of $4; for larger amounts, it is a maximum of $8.
You can get the amount in cash or loaded onto a Walmart MoneyCard, which has no fee to reload subsequent times. You can use your Walmart MoneyCard anywhere. Debit Mastercard or Visa debit cards are accepted throughout the U.S.
What Are the Benefits of a Walmart Money Order?
You might want to use a Walmart money order to make your next payment for several reasons. For one, a money order can’t bounce. Once it’s paid for, Walmart loads the value onto the money order, and you can use it for just about any purpose — paying rent, your monthly electricity bill or to gift a friend. That’s distinctly different from a check, which a bank may decline if there aren’t enough funds in the account to make the payment.
Another benefit of Walmart money orders is their safety. When you purchase a money order and use it to pay someone, you aren’t sharing private details, like your address or bank account routing details on a personal check. If you aren’t familiar with the person or entity you’re paying, you may feel more comfortable using a money order rather than risking the safety of your checking account.
Finally, you don’t need a bank account to purchase a Walmart money order. If you don’t currently have a bank account, you can buy money orders for payments until you decide to open one at a later time. That’s advantageous for people who can’t open a bank account for various reasons or don’t yet need one.
Final Take
Like any financial service, purchasing a money order does require a small fee. Walmart’s money order fees are some of the lowest you’ll find, with a maximum charge of $1. It’s easy to purchase a money order at your nearest Walmart location using cash or a debit card. Make sure to fill out the money order after purchasing it and keep the money order stub in a safe place for tracking purposes.
Virginia Anderson and Jami Farkas contributed to the reporting for this article.
Information is accurate as of Jan. 30, 2024.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
