How Much Does a Money Order Cost at Walmart?

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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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