Where Can I Use My FSA Debit Card Online?
 | SUCCESS ONLINE! | FSAStore.com |
 | SUCCESS ONLINE! | Walgreens.com |
 | FAIL ONLINE | Target.com |
 | FAIL ONLINE | Walmart.com |
| AMAZON | SUCCESS ONLINE! (As of March 2019) | Amazon.com |
If your FSA administrator provides a special debit card that’s linked to your FSA account, you may already know how easy it is to use at pharmacies, doctors offices for co-pays, and certain retailers which directly debits from your FSA account. What’s nice is that you shouldn’t have to provide documentation/receipts (most of the time) for the FSA-eligible items that you bought because the retailer and your FSA administrator have pre-agreement that they’re eligible. (Co-pays for doctor’s visits, however, will probably always need documentation.)
I personally use my card at my local Target store all the time. But what if you want to use your FSA debit card *online* for maximum convenience? I put that to the test recently and attempted to use my WageWorks FSA debit card at the following popular online sites: Amazon.com, Target.com, Walmart.com, and Walgreens.com.
I only tried to buy something that I needed and knew is FSA-eligible: contacts solution. For each vendor/merchant, I added the solution to my web cart, and proceeded to use my WageWorks FSA debit card to check out. Here’s what happened:
Amazon.com: My order went through, but a couple hours later, I got an email saying my card was rejected and my order was cancelled. FAIL. It would be nice if Amazon accepted it, since I gather a lot of folks buy stuff from them and are Prime members to take advantage of free shipping.
As of March 2019, Amazon now will take your FSA or HSA debit card! They will also allow you to save your card info for the convenience of future eligible purchases. SUCCESS!
Target.com: My card was cancelled at the point of checkout. FAIL. It didn’t give a reason as to why it was rejected, but I assume that it’s because Target’s online system doesn’t have the same “FSA-readiness” as when you use it at their physical stores and pharmacies. Bummer!
Walmart.com: Like Target.com, my card was cancelled at the point of checkout. It also didn’t give a reason as to why it was rejected. FAIL.
Walgreens.com: I’ve used my FSA card at physical locations of drugstores like Walgreens and CVS, but this is the first time I’ve tried online at Walgreens.com. My order went through, and then my purchase went through as well! A day or two later, I logged into my FSA account to double-check, and lo and behold, my purchase was approved (without the need to submit a receipt, I might add) and directly deducted from my FSA account. SUCCESS!
It seems if you want to use your FSA debit card online, I only see Walgreens.com accepting it, along with FSA-specialty sites like FSAStore.com, which indicate that they take FSA debit cards. (As far as other online drugstores like CVS, I can’t verify that as I haven’t tried.)
For me, since the prices for the same products are often less at an Amazon.com (I’m also a Prime member with free shipping) or Walmart.com, I still opt to pay out-of-pocket at those sites and then submit receipts to my FSA administrator’s website to get reimbursed. It’s a little more work, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not that bad.
Now that Amazon DOES take my FSA debit card for orders, I am definitely starting to use it as a Prime member. See my first order here!
But if you only want to use your FSA at online vendors and provide as little documentation as possible, an online drugstore like Walgreens.com is your friend.
