How Much Does a Money Order Cost at Walmart?

Transferring cash with Walmart money orders is cheap and easy.

By John Csiszar August 31, 2017 Checking Accounts 101

If you need to pay a bill and don’t have a checking account, a money order can be a good solution. For starters, a money order is cheap and easy to obtain — you can pick one up at your local Walmart.

How much does a Walmart money order cost? The store charges a small handling fee of 70 cents, which is very competitive. The U.S. Postal Service, by comparison, charges $1.20 for money orders up to $500, and $1.60 for money orders between $500 and $1,000.

Find out more about money orders from Walmart so you can decide if it’s a good place for you to get a money order.

What Is a Walmart Money Order?

A Walmart money order is essentially a prepaid check or bank certificate. To get a money order, you pay the amount of the money order to the issuer, plus a small fee. Then you’ll be issued the money order, which will typically include the name of both the recipient and the issuer.

One of the main benefits of a money order is that it’s paid in advance, meaning a money order can’t bounce like a personal check can. Money orders are also issued with numbers, so they are traceable. You can usually cancel and reissue a money order if it’s lost or stolen.

Limitations of Money Orders

Although money orders are cheap and convenient, they do have limitations. The primary restriction is that the amount cannot typically exceed $1,000 for U.S. money orders. This means money orders cannot be used for larger transactions such as buying a car or a house, or even making larger rent payments. However, you can purchase more than one money order at a time if you need to make bigger payments, but you will pay a fee for each additional money order.

Find Out: Cashier’s Check vs. Money Order — Here’s the Difference

Walmart MoneyCenter Services

Walmart is not a bank; however, it can still 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, Walmart MoneyCards, Bluebird cards, Rapid Reload and Netspend
Money transfers via MoneyGram transfer or MoneyGram money order, bill pay and check cashing
Check printing
Product care plans
Coinstar
Tax preparation services

Does Walmart Cash Money Orders?

You can cash a money order at banks, check-cashing services and certain retailers, including grocery stores. Walmart cashes money orders that were issued at Walmart, for a fee of $3 for amounts up to $1,000 and $6 for amounts between $1,000 and $5,000. Wherever you cash a money order, you’ll need ID to prove you are the lawful recipient.

Walmart also offers check-cashing services on a variety of financial instruments, which can be helpful if you are expecting a payment greater than the $1,000 money order limit. Walmart will cash any of the following:

MoneyGram money orders purchased at Walmart
Cashier’s checks
Tax checks
Payroll checks
Government checks
Insurance settlement checks
401k or other retirement distribution checks

Walmart has a check-cashing limit of $5,000. The fee is $6 for checks between $1,000 and $5,000, and $3 for checks of $1,000 or less. You can get the amount in cash or loaded onto a Walmart MoneyCard, which costs $3 to purchase initially but has no fee to reload subsequent times.

Up Next: What Is the Wells Fargo Cashier’s Check Fee?