How to Buy MoneyPak Online With a Credit Card, Debit Card, or PayPal

MoneyPak is a method of taking hard cash and digitizing it, powered by the Green Dot company. You can use it to send money, receive money, and reload prepaid or bank debit cards. It cannot be used to load cash into a PayPal account. Many people use MoneyPak because it is a relatively safe way of sending money online; it is not linked to your bank account nor does it contain any credit card numbers. However, there are not many retailers which directly accept MoneyPak as a payment method, so it’s better used for sending or receiving money on an individual basis or for reloading prepaid cards. MoneyPak suggests that you only send money to people you know and trust.

How to Use a MoneyPak

MoneyPak is available at over 50,000 stores within the United States. These stores include (but are not limited to) CVS, Family Dollar, Office Depot/OfficeMax, Pick ‘n Save, Rite Aid, and Walgreens.

To use a MoneyPak, you need to go to MoneyPak.com. If it’s your first time, click deposit to card, and you’ll be taken through the steps. You’ll be prompted to enter the MoneyPak number from the back of your MoneyPak’s package, to enter the number for the reloadable card where you’d like to put the money, and to create an account. If you’ve used Moneypack before, you can log in first, and then go through the steps of entering your MoneyPak and card numbers.

You can use a MoneyPak you bought to reload your own card, or, if you need to give money to someone else, you can buy a MoneyPak and then give it to them to use to reload their card.

Accepted Payment Types

If you are planning on purchasing a MoneyPak, be sure to have cash on you, as this is the only method of payment MoneyPak accepts. You can’t buy a MoneyPak with a credit card, debit card, personal check, PayPal, or anything other than cash.

If you head over to the Green Dot website to learn more about MoneyPak, note that you might see information about paying with PayPal or check — these methods have to do with the Green Dot card, which we talk more about below, and are not available payment methods for MoneyPak.

MoneyPak Fees and Limits

Be aware that there are fees and limits that apply when using MoneyPak. You can purchase a MoneyPak of $20-$500 for a fee of $5.95; this fee remains the same regardless of how much money you load onto MoneyPak. If you need more than $500, you can purchase more than one MoneyPak per day. However, there is a limit to the amount of MoneyPak deposits you can make in a day, week, and month depending on your card service. According to the Fees & Limits section of the MoneyPak help page, when using a debit card, typically you can make up to six deposits in a day for up to $1,000, eight deposits within a week for up to $1,000, or ten deposits within a month for up to $1,000. There are also limits per MoneyPak profile, which are as follows: you can make up to six deposits in a day for up to $1,000, ten deposits in a week for up to $1,500, or fifteen deposits within a month for up to $3,000.

If you do not use your MoneyPak, there will be a fee of $5.95 deducted from it on the 31st day after purchase. This fee will be charged monthly thereafter until the MoneyPak is used.

Suggested Article: How to Find a Free Green Dot ATM

Cards That Accept MoneyPak

MoneyPak can only be used with prepaid cards and bank debit cards. These cards must have the owner’s name embossed on them, so temporary prepaid cards cannot be used with MoneyPak. According to the MoneyPak website, MoneyPak works with hundreds of different cards; if you already have a prepaid card or a debit card that is connected to a checking account, you can find out if it is eligible to use MoneyPak. If you don’t have a prepaid card or a debit card but you are interested in using MoneyPak, you can apply for a Green Dot card or get a prepaid card elsewhere. Just be sure to ask your card provider if they accept MoneyPak when signing up.

Other Green Dot Services

MoneyPak is powered by the Green Dot company, which offers some other useful services. If you get a Green Dot card (which is a re-loadable, prepaid card), you can “Reload @ the Register.” This allows you to load money directly onto your Green Dot card at the register of participating stores for a fee of $4.95. A cheaper alternative is having a check cashed and loaded onto your card. Green Dot has teamed up with Walmart to make this possible. Walmart will cash your pre-printed payroll or government checks and then load them onto your Green Dot card for a fee of $3.74.

Green Dot has also teamed up with PayPal to power Paypal Cash. With this service, you can load money into your PayPal account at the cash register of participating locations. There is a fee of $3.95 and you do not need a Green Dot card to use PayPal Cash, but you will need a smartphone to display a barcode that PayPal will generate. The cashier will scan this barcode to load the money directly into your account.

In Summary

If you want to send money online but prefer not to use services that record your debit or credit card numbers, MoneyPak may be the perfect solution. For $5.95 you can get up to $500 dollars of MoneyPak. Most major retailers will not accept MoneyPak as a form of payment when online shopping, and MoneyPak suggests that you only use their service to send and receive money from people you know. MoneyPak is available all over the US at stores like CVS, Family Dollar, Office Depot/OfficeMax, Pick ‘n Save, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and more. Cash is the only accepted method of payment when purchasing a MoneyPak, so make sure you have it on hand if you’re planning to pick one up. If MoneyPak isn’t for you, the Green Dot company also offers some other useful services, like the Green Dot card and Paypal Cash, which allows you to load money directly into your Paypal account at the cash registers of participating locations.