This is interesting. It appears that, at some Walmarts at least, you can forcibly shut down their cash registers simply by using an American Express Prepaid card.
A few weeks ago I received this email from a reader (I’ve abbreviated a few parts and bolded some for emphasis):
Have you heard of any technical problems associated with using the AMEX prepaid credit card at Wal-mart stores? … I’ve had success using it at ATMs and virtually all types of merchants (gas, grocery, retail, etc.) with the exception of Wal-mart. On two different occasions, when I tried to swipe the card at check-out, it essentially shut down the clerk’s entire computer system. We moved to a different register thinking the problem was with that specific machine but the same thing happened. So today, I tested it at another Wal-mart store elsewhere in town… Same story. I even asked the clerk to manually input the 15-digit code thinking it could be a problem with the physical card; however, same result. Computer shuts down and we have to move to a different register.
Have any of your other readers mentioned anything remotely similar? I called AMEX customer service but they had no clue. From the expressions of the Wal-mart clerks, they had never seen anything like this before either.
When I read the above email, I remember thinking that this was a weird fluke. I meant to write a post asking if it had happened to anyone else, but I was traveling at the time and I forgot to put it on my to-do list. Last night, though, I was reminded by a new email from a reader known as Perryplatypus (again, I’ve bolded parts for emphasis):
I recently ran into an interesting issue with the Amex Prepaid at Walmart in two different states Texas and Oklahoma. I tried to make two small purchases like $30 and $20 and the card completely froze up the Walmart register! It actually sent the register into a countdown sequence from 500. It completely locked up the register and both times they had to open new registers to check us out. Then I just paid for my items using my SPG Amex instead. It looks like Walmart has a software issue with this card and I contacted Amex prepaid today to let them know the issues I had. I’m just wondering if you or any of your other readers have had this problem? Also no charges ever appeared for these transactions and the card is still working well with all other merchants.
Reader experiences
Has anyone else tried using the American Express Prepaid cards at Walmart? What was your experience?
Disclaimer
I am in no way suggesting that anyone should use this card as a weapon against Walmart.
Related Posts and Links
- One card to rule them all
- American Express Prepaid Card FAQ
- Order the American Express® Prepaid Card for free (affiliate link)
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
My Am Ex card locked up the wal mart register on two different occasions. Today my Visa did it. I had to leave my items and walk out. The cashiers didn’t know what the hell was up.
Look, if you want to shut Wal-mart down, just don’t spend any money there. I haven’t shopped at Wal-Mart for over five years. I doubt this card trick is really all that effective, but it does look expensive and childish.
My wife just shut down 3 registers in Southern California at Wal-Mart using a permananet Amex-Prepaid. Seems like the POS company would push out an update already. If a card can lock the system i am sure that it can compromise it as well.
I remembered this post about 30 seconds before swiping my prepaid at a Walmart in Martinsburg, WV. Swiped, and the clerk’s face went white. “It’s black! Everything’s gone!”
I was going to just use a different card at another register, but a manager came by and asserted that it was a problem they were having throughout the day, not attributed to my card. Swiped, crashed.
I felt bad and apologized, and the manager said “No, it’s ok, it’s not your fault” …which made me feel worse.
Knocked out 2 registers and 2 different Wal-marts in Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach, FL. Did the 500 countdown, froze up, had to reboot, even when entered manually. I called AmEx, they had no clue, they said they only have issues with the card not working at BP gas stations. Now sometimes when I’m at Wal-mart I just swipe it anyways for fun… LMAO @Stvr “domestic terrorism”
I was at payless shoes yesterday using amex giftcard i bought from ralphs. first swipe crashed the terminal. it was bad cuz it was their only terminal. everyone was waiting in line. 5 minutes later, the machine rebooted. second swipe ran through.
It works fine as credit at Walmart @ Milpitas, CA
THIS IS AWESOME. It’s like domestic terrorism.
Confirmed for central Illinois as well. I used the “permanent” card yesterday and rebooted a register.
Just today I overheard 2 Target employees talking about how they had to update thier machines to accept American Express.
After seeing this post, I beleive they were talking about a fix for this particular issue.
I had a similar issue a couple months back actually. I was using a prepaid Staples Rebate Debit card at a CVS self checkout. The machine froze and became completely unusable. The tech there couldn’t even get it to respond to the restart codes. Never had any other issues after that though.
Huh? Why even post this?
FliesAlot: To save people a huge amount of hassle when they go to Walmart.
My husband used his prepaid Amex to pay for an online course on his computer & it said “card invalid”, even tho they accepted Amex as a form of payment. Tried mine too & got the same message. Wierd!
Shutdown two different registers in Sunrise, FL last week. After the second one it was clear that it was my card, so out came the INK Bold for a 3 dollar purchase.
Shut down the self check out line in DFW. Four employees came over to look at it and couldn’t figure it out. They had to restart the system and then check me out of another one. I didn’t use the card a second time. I used that pre-paid card earlier that day at Costco, so definitely something wrong with Walmart. I didn’t get a countdown, it just said an error had occurred and it didn’t matter what buttons they used, it would not change the screen. I selected the credit card at checkout.