BREAKING: HR Block Emerald card Vanilla Reloadable

I reported back in October that the redesigned Vanilla Reload Network reload cards had "MasterCard rePower" listed on the front. I linked to a list of MasterCard prepaid cards and speculated that it might be possible to load some of them using Vanilla Reload Network reload cards.

I went out and hunted down a few of the most promising cards on the list, including the Mango checking account alternative and the HR Block Emerald card, both of which had no monthly fees or fees that were easily waived (in Mango's case, through a single $500 deposit each month).

Unfortunately, as I reported at the end of October, neither the Emerald nor the Mango card ended up being loadable using Vanilla Reload Network reload cards.

I stuck both cards in my drawer and forgot about them until I saw this post from a few days ago on FlyerTalk. There, user SoCalStew reported success loading his Emerald card, writing:

For a brief shining moment, a couple of weeks ago, I was able to stuff a few VRs into my Emerald Card. This is how it looked on the Emerald site.

01/01/14 ADD FUNDS - POS / VANILLA TOPUP REDEEM 10ATLANTA GA USA $500.00

Then they pulled the plug on reloads. Comes up as a "Code 21" on the VR site.

Fortunately I had a few Vanilla Reload Network reload cards lying around, so I dug out my Emerald card and tried it for myself.

SUCCESS!

I can now report that for at least some users, HR Block Emerald cards are Vanilla Reloadable. This is terrific news because back in October when I first got my Emerald card, I confirmed that it's also possible to pay bills using ACH pulls – for free – from the Emerald card account. That makes it possible to liquidate Vanilla Reload Network reload cards at no additional cost once they've been successfully loaded to the Emerald.

Limits?

A few minutes ago I was able to load just two $500 reload cards to my Emerald account before receiving an error that I'd reached the limit on the number of loads allowed. I'll continue attempting to load money to the account over the next few days, weeks, and months and report back any other load limits I'm able to discover.

Reader experiences are of course more than welcome.