The most common way to get cash from a credit card is through a cash advance, which lets you withdraw money at an ATM or bank teller much like a debit card. It works, but it’s one of the most expensive ways to access cash. You’ll pay an upfront fee, a higher interest rate than normal purchases, and interest starts accruing immediately with no grace period. Before you go this route, it helps to understand exactly what you’ll pay and what alternatives exist.
How a Cash Advance Works
A cash advance is essentially a short-term loan against your credit card’s available balance. Your card issuer sets a separate cash advance limit, which is typically a percentage of your overall credit limit. If your credit limit is $15,000 and the issuer caps cash advances at 30%, you can withdraw up to $4,500. You can find your specific cash advance limit on your monthly statement, in your online account, or by calling the number on the back of your card.
To withdraw cash at an ATM, you’ll need the PIN associated with your credit card. This is not the same PIN you use for your debit card. If you never set one up, contact your issuer to request one before heading to the ATM. Some issuers mail PINs separately for security reasons, so plan a few days ahead if possible. Once you have your PIN, insert or tap your credit card at any ATM, select “cash advance” or “credit” (the wording varies by machine), and choose your amount. The ATM may also charge its own access fee on top of what your card issuer charges.
You can also get a cash advance in person at a bank branch. Bring your credit card and a valid photo ID. The teller processes the transaction directly, and this method sometimes allows you to withdraw a larger amount than an ATM’s per-transaction limit would allow.
What a Cash Advance Costs
Cash advances hit you with three layers of cost, and they add up fast.
- Transaction fee: Most issuers charge either a flat fee or a percentage of the amount withdrawn, whichever is greater. A common structure is 3% to 5% of the advance. On a $1,000 withdrawal, that’s $30 to $50 just for the transaction.
- Higher APR: The annual percentage rate on cash advances is almost always higher than your regular purchase APR. While your purchase rate might sit in the mid-20s, cash advance rates often run several percentage points higher. Check your cardmember agreement for the exact number.
- No grace period: This is the detail that catches most people off guard. With regular purchases, you typically have a grace period of at least 21 days before interest kicks in. Cash advances have no grace period. Interest begins accumulating the moment you withdraw the money, so every day you carry that balance costs you.
Here’s what that looks like in practice. Say you withdraw $500 with a 5% transaction fee and a 29.99% cash advance APR. You immediately owe $525 (the $500 plus the $25 fee), and roughly $0.43 in interest accrues every single day until you pay it off. If you take 30 days to repay, you’ll have paid about $38 in combined fees and interest on a $500 advance.
Using Payment Apps as a Workaround
Some people try to get cash from a credit card by linking it to a peer-to-peer payment app like PayPal, Venmo, or Cash App, then transferring the funds to their bank account. This technically works in some cases, but it’s rarely cheaper than a standard cash advance.
These apps typically charge around 3% when you fund a payment with a credit card instead of a linked bank account. On top of that, your card issuer may treat the transaction as a cash advance anyway, tacking on its own cash advance fee (often $10 or more) and applying the higher cash advance interest rate with no grace period. So instead of avoiding the cost, you could end up paying fees to both the app and the credit card company. Zelle doesn’t accept credit cards at all, so it’s not an option for this approach.
Whether an app transaction gets coded as a cash advance depends on the payment network and the merchant category. You won’t always know in advance how it will be classified, which makes this an unpredictable strategy.
Convenience Checks
Some credit card issuers mail convenience checks that you can write to yourself or to someone else. These draw from your credit card’s cash advance limit. You deposit or cash the check like any other, and the amount shows up on your credit card statement. The same cash advance fees, higher APR, and no-grace-period rules apply. If you’ve received these checks in the mail and don’t plan to use them, shred them to prevent fraud.
How to Minimize the Cost
If you decide a cash advance is your best option, a few steps can reduce the damage. First, withdraw only what you absolutely need. Every dollar you advance costs more than a dollar to repay. Second, pay it back as quickly as possible, ideally within days rather than weeks. Because interest compounds daily with no grace period, speed matters more here than with regular purchases.
Also check whether your card has a promotional cash advance rate. A few cards occasionally offer lower APR promotions on cash advances, though these are far less common than purchase promotions. And be aware of your cash advance limit before you go to the ATM. If your transaction exceeds that limit, the ATM will decline it, even if you have plenty of available credit for purchases.
Cheaper Ways to Access Cash
Before using a credit card for cash, consider whether any of these alternatives fit your situation. A personal loan from your bank or credit union typically carries a lower interest rate than a cash advance APR, and you can often get approved and funded within a day or two. If you have a checking account with overdraft protection, that overdraft fee may still be less than the combined cost of a cash advance. Borrowing from a friend or family member costs nothing in fees, though it carries its own risks.
If you need cash for a specific purchase, consider whether the merchant accepts credit cards directly. Paying with your card for the purchase itself means you get the lower purchase APR and the grace period, avoiding the cash advance surcharge entirely. Even paying a credit card surcharge at some merchants (typically 2% to 3%) is cheaper than the layered costs of converting credit to cash and then spending it.