Money to inmates: how to at Rikers

Send money to inmates at Rikers Island

How to send money to inmates who are on Rikers Island. Want to send some cash to an inmate at Rikers? Well, you’ve got a few options. Of course, the first option is to go down to the Island or MDC and place money into the inmates account via cash or money order. I understand that is likely not an option for most people. It could take you half a day to get to and from Rikers (without a car) and that’s if everything works according to plan – which is rarely does. So, are there any ways to do this online? Yes! Fortunately. There are two main ways to send money to an inmate from your credit or debit card. One is Western Union and the other is JPAY.

Each company has its pros and cons. WU (western union) is a bit pricier but seems to have no limit on the number of transactions per day (of course they charge you per transaction). Jpay is a bit cheaper but can only be done once every three days. It’s also a bit trickier to use and not as intuitive. You can only have one inmate listed. if you want to send to another inmate, you have to delete them first and relist a new one. Can be a hassle if you’re sending money to more than one inmate at a time.

Don’t have a credit or debit card? Jpay requires a card of some sort whereas WU allows the transaction to be placed by phone or at one of their many physical locations. Both have the money posted to the inmates account within a couple of hours so that isn’t an issue.