When you withdraw money from your credit card, you are making a cash advance. The cash advance limit is the maximum amount of cash you can withdraw or transfer. This limit is usually calculated as a percentage of the credit limit. There is no interest-free period for cash advances, so you will be charged interest starting immediately and you will be charged an additional fee.
Your bank may also consider foreign currency purchases and risky transactions, such as gambling, as a cash advance. Most credit cards allow you to borrow a fixed amount of cash as an advance that you pay with interest. You can usually only borrow up to your card's cash advance limit and not your total credit limit. To identify the credit card account with the highest cash advance amount, look at the percentage of the overall credit limit available for cash advances.
The total amount of cash available for cash advances is equal to the cash limit currently allocated to you on your credit card. For the cash advance limit, check your credit card statement or contact the issuer. Check your most recent credit card statement and find Credit available for cash advances. Keep in mind that ATMs sometimes have additional limits.
There is no minimum amount of cash advance. Capital One credit cards set cash advance limits of 30 to 50% of the total credit limit, depending on your creditworthiness. You can take a cash advance inside the lobby of a bank that displays the Visa or MasterCard credit card logo. With most credit union credit cards, there is no cash advance fee and the interest rate is the same as for making a purchase.
APRs and notoriously high fees also mean that making a credit card cash advance should be reserved only for emergencies. If you find that you need cash advances over the limit repeatedly, consider asking the card issuer for a higher cash advance limit or look for a new card that is willing to grant you a higher cash access line. The payday cash advance usually does not require a traditional credit check and must be repaid directly to the payday lender, usually before the next payday. Fees, including an ATM fee, are added to the amount of the advance and interest starts accruing daily from the day you received the cash advance.
Because APRs for cash advances are high, you usually only take an advance for emergencies and pay it as soon as possible. If a cash advance is your only solution to withdraw money quickly, make sure you know all the costs involved and develop a plan to pay it off.
