Money Network card constantly rejected for online purchases - EDD payment solution needed
I've been dealing with a super frustrating issue with my EDD Money Network card for weeks now. Every time I try to use it for online purchases (Amazon, bill payments, etc.), it gets denied like 90% of the time! The error message always says to contact the company, but I've called the number on the back of the card multiple times and just get stuck in an endless phone tree with no actual human to speak with. Has anyone else experienced this? I know I have sufficient funds - I can check my balance just fine. And yes, I'm aware I can transfer the money out to my personal bank account, but I have specific reasons for keeping it on the card for now (avoiding waiting periods for transfers and some bank issues I'm dealing with). I've tried different browsers, tried using my card on different websites, verified all my info is correct... nothing works. The card works fine at ATMs and in physical stores, just not online. Is there some secret setting I need to enable for online purchases? This is my lifeline right now while I'm waiting for interviews to pan out!
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Evelyn Rivera
omg YES!!! I thought it was just me! My Money Network card from EDD gets declined for almost every online purchase too. So frustrating!!!! Been dealing with this garbage for 2 months now. The stupid automated system is USELESS. I even tried calling at like 5am hoping to catch a real person but nope!!!
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Kolton Murphy
•Glad I'm not alone but sorry you're dealing with it too. Have you found ANY workaround? I seriously need to pay some bills online this week.
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Julia Hall
Yo this happened to me last year! For some reason, the card doesn't work with certain merchants that do extra verification steps. Try adding it to PayPal first, then use PayPal to check out. Worked for me after like 50 failed attempts trying direct card entry.
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Kolton Murphy
•Thanks for the tip! I'll try the PayPal route. Did you have to wait a few days for the verification deposits or anything?
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Julia Hall
•Nah it wasn't like linking a bank account. Just added the card like any credit/debit card and it worked right away. Though sometimes PayPal can be weird too, but worth trying
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Arjun Patel
This is a known issue with Money Network cards. It's actually related to fraud prevention measures they implemented in 2024. The card gets flagged for online transactions because many unemployment benefits were targeted by scammers. Here's what you can do: 1. Call Money Network's dedicated line at 1-866-323-2322 (NOT the regular EDD number) 2. Press option 4, then 2, then 3 to bypass most of the menu 3. You need to specifically request for them to enable "CNP transactions" (Card Not Present) on your account 4. They'll need to verify your identity with additional questions After they enable this feature, wait about 4 hours before trying online purchases again. This solved it for me and many others in my situation.
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Kolton Murphy
•This is super helpful information!! Thank you so much, I had no idea about the CNP transactions thing. I'll try calling that specific number with those menu options today. So grateful for the detailed steps!
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Jade Lopez
I'm having the SAME issue but with my husband's disability card!!! Not even EDD unemployment and it STILL won't work online! Money Network is terrible. When I finally got through to someone they told me to just transfer the money out. Completely ignored my question about fixing the online purchasing!
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Cassie Ayers
•@Jade Lopez this is exactly what they keep telling me. Did you figure it out?
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Tony Brooks
If you're struggling to reach someone at Money Network, try using Claimyr (claimyr.com). It's not free, but they helped me get through to a live agent when I had issues with my card being frozen after a suspicious charge. Saved me hours of frustration and got my issue resolved in one call. They have a video demo of how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km
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Evelyn Rivera
•does this actually work?? ive never heard of this service before. kinda suspicious tbh
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Tony Brooks
•Yes, it worked for me. They basically call on your behalf and navigate the phone tree, then connect you once they get a human. I was skeptical too but was desperate after trying for 3 days to get through.
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Ella rollingthunder87
I use my EDD Money Network card for online shopping all the time with no issues. Maybe it's something with your settings? Did you verify your address on the Money Network website? Sometimes the billing address needs to match EXACTLY how EDD has it listed.
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Kolton Murphy
•Huh, I didn't think about the address format being different. I'll double check that. Did you have to do anything special to activate online purchases or anything like that?
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Ella rollingthunder87
•Nope, never had to do anything special. Just activated the card initially and it's worked fine. But I'm super careful about typing my address EXACTLY as it appears on my EDD letters. Like if they use "Ave." instead of "Avenue" I make sure to match it precisely.
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Arjun Patel
Just checking back - were you able to get through to Money Network using the number I provided? Did enabling CNP transactions fix your issue?
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Kolton Murphy
•YES!! Thank you so much! I finally got through after about 20 minutes on hold. The agent knew exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned CNP transactions. They had to ask me some verification questions and then enabled it. Just made my first successful online purchase an hour ago! Can't thank you enough for this specific advice - I would have never known to ask for this!
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Yara Campbell
I've had a Money Network card for my EDD benefits for about 6 months now, and I discovered something important: they automatically block transactions from certain categories of merchants that are considered "high risk" for fraud. This includes many subscription services, digital goods, and some utility payments. If you're trying to use it for these types of purchases, you might need to specifically request that these merchant categories be unblocked. It's separate from the CNP issue that was mentioned. Here's another tip: if you're making a large online purchase (over $200), try splitting it into smaller transactions. For some reason, their system seems to flag larger online purchases more frequently.
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Evelyn Rivera
update: i tried the advice about getting CNP transactions enabled and it WORKED!!!! omg ive been dealing with this for months!!! thank you thank you!!!!! wish EDD would actually TELL people about this instead of making us figure it out ourselves 🙄
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Cassie Ayers
•@Evelyn Rivera was it the 1 866 (323-2322) number? It’s throwing me off because it doesn’t sound like Edd number.
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Cassie Ayers
•@Cassie Ayers money network* sorry not Edd.
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Yara Nassar
This thread has been SO helpful! I've been having the exact same problem with my EDD Money Network card for the past month. Online purchases keep getting declined even though I have funds available. I tried the PayPal workaround but that didn't work for me either. @Arjun Patel thank you for sharing that specific phone number and menu navigation! I had no idea about CNP transactions being a thing. I'm definitely going to try calling 1-866-323-2322 tomorrow and asking them to enable CNP transactions on my account. @Yara Campbell that's interesting about the merchant categories being blocked. I wonder if that's why my utility bill payment keeps getting rejected even though it's a legitimate company. I'll ask about that too when I call. It's so frustrating that Money Network doesn't explain any of this stuff upfront. Like why wouldn't they tell us about these restrictions when we activate the card? Anyway, fingers crossed this finally solves my problem!
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