The Walgreens Race Around America is On! #RaceAroundAmerica

February 28, 2014 by Jenn 226 Comments

Did you know that 25% of American households are either underbanked, or even unbanked? This means that they rely on places like check cashing businesses for their banking needs, and that they largely use cash instead of credit or debit cards. Whether you’re afraid of banks because that’s what your grandmother taught you, you can’t get a bank account because of your credit history, it’s not always realistic to have lots of cash on hand and there are certain thing you can’t pay for with cash. For example, when you want to pay bills by telephone, shop online, or deposit your tax refund, the Balance Financial Prepaid Mastercard, available at Walgreens, is a perfect solution!

Balance™ Financial Prepaid MasterCard® from Walgreens

The Balance™ Financial Prepaid MasterCard® from Walgreens is a safe alternative to cash that’s big on convenience but small on fees and it’s available nationwide! Just visit your neighborhood Walgreens or Duane Reade store to purchase a card, then activate it! You can activate your card from any computer by visiting Walgreens.com/BalanceFinancial, or activate your card immediately at the kiosk located in the store where you purchase your card, or even the toll-free customer service line at 888-924-2653.

You can load your card at any Walgreens or Duane Reade store using the following options:

Cash: $10 – $500
Pin Debit: $10 – $1,500
Checks: $10 – $2,000

And of course you can reload your card at over 8,200 Walgreens or Duane Reade stores, many of which are open 24 hours a day. Plus, you can use your card anywhere a Debit Mastercard is accepted. As a bonus, you can withdraw cash without ATM fees at most Walgreens and Duane Reade locations, which means that you can still carry cash in your pocket.

When you link your Balance™ Financial Prepaid MasterCard® up to your Walgreens Balance® Rewards account, you’ll earn points faster too! You guys know how much I love the Balance® Rewards program at Walgreens, and this makes it even easier to benefit from the program!

How fast? You earn:

10 points for every $1 spent at Walgreens or Duane Reade stores.
100 points every time the Card is reloaded in store.
1,000 points when the first direct deposit is made. Then, 250 points for each month a direct deposit is received.

You then turn around and redeem your points for dollars off purchases made at Walgreens or Duane Reade stores.

Another convenience is that you can deposit your payroll check or government check – including your tax refund check – with the Walgreens cashier, and receive up to $100 cash back immediately. If you need more than $100, then use the Walgreens ATM fee-free.

Even better – reload for free with direct deposit. The same checks you can deposit with the Walgreens cashier can be deposited automatically. This saves you a trip to the store, and gives you faster access to your money. And it’s certainly better than waiting for a check in the mail.

Did I forget to tell you there’s no minimum balance to maintain? Sorry about that!

When you need to check your balance, you can use the website, the mobile app (you do have a smartphone, don’t you?), or the in-store kiosk. You can also view your transaction history or transfer funds between two different Balance Financial Prepaid Mastercard cardholder accounts. Don’t forget to sign up for text alerts!

Walgreens has partnered with Fenway Racing!

Balance™ Financial Prepaid MasterCard® from Walgreens and Roush Fenway Racing are embarking on a Race Around America to build and test an icon of speed and engineering – the ROUSH Stage 3 Mustang.

You can get involved by voting to shape the outcome of the race. You can watch the webisodes to see how your votes shaped the outcomes. Plus, you can win one of 4 trips to the Miami Homestead race in November or the actual Roush Stage 3 Mustang that you see in the webisodes! How cool is that? Every time you use the card and every reload earns you automatic entries into the sweepstakes. There’s No purchase necessary to enter or win.

race around america

Don’t have a Card? You can learn how to get one here, or visit your nearest Walgreens store! I’ll be getting my own in a few days, I can’t wait to share my experiences with you!

In the meantime, how about we show our excitement for the awesome Race Around America promotion? I have one $25 Walgreens gift card to give away to one of my readers!

To enter to win the $25 Walgreens gift card giveaway:

Mandatory entry – Visit Race Around America to place your vote, then tell me what you voted for in the comments section!

Bonus entries – Tweet or share from the Race Around America website (icons are in the top right hand corner) and leave me the URL in the comments section. You can do this once per day for extra entries!

This giveaway is open to US residents and ends on March 14th, 2014 at midnight EST.

About Jenn

Jenn, AKA "The Rebel Chick," is a single woman who strives to help her readers live their best lives possible. Whether it be through sharing new recipes, sharing her dating stories, or encouraging people to embrace adventure and travel, she aims to inspire people to live full, happy and authentic lives.