How to Get a Cash Advance on a Credit Card: Costs and Alternatives

To get a cash advance on a credit card, you withdraw cash at an ATM using your card and PIN, ask a teller for a cash advance at a bank that works with your card’s network, or deposit a convenience check your issuer mailed to you. Expect an upfront fee of 3% to 5% of the amount (with a $10 minimum) and an APR that often exceeds 29% at banks, with interest starting the same day the money hits your hand.¹²

What You Need Before You Start

Your card has a separate cash advance limit that is smaller than your total credit line. On a card with a $15,000 overall limit and a 30% cash advance cap, the most you could pull in cash is $4,500.³ Your specific number is on your monthly statement, in your online account, or available by phone at the number on the back of the card.⁴

You will also need a PIN to use an ATM. Some issuers let you set or reset one instantly through the app or website. Capital One, for example, may send a verification code by email or text so you can create a PIN on the spot.⁵ If instant PIN setup is not available on your account, a mailed PIN usually takes 7 to 10 business days, so plan ahead if you might need cash on short notice.

Three Ways to Get the Cash

ATM Withdrawal

Insert your credit card, enter your PIN, and choose the credit card withdrawal option rather than checking or savings. The ATM sends an authorization request to your issuer, dispenses the cash once approved, and prints a receipt you should keep as your record. If the ATM is outside your bank’s network, the operator will usually add a surcharge of around $3 on top of what your card issuer charges.

Bank Teller

You can walk into a branch that works with your card network, hand over the credit card and a government-issued photo ID, and ask for a cash advance. The teller processes it at a terminal and has you sign a receipt.⁶ A teller is the right choice if you need more cash than an ATM will dispense in a single visit, or if you want specific denominations.

Convenience Checks

Some issuers mail blank checks that draw against your credit line instead of a bank account. Write one to yourself and deposit it, or make it out to a third party. Once it clears, the amount posts to your card as a cash advance.⁷ The fees and interest match a regular cash advance. Because these checks arrive by mail, anyone who gets to your mailbox could use them, so shred the ones you don’t plan to cash.

Purchases That Get Charged as Cash Advances

Some transactions trigger cash advance fees even though you never went near an ATM. Issuers commonly treat these as cash equivalents: buying cryptocurrency, purchasing money orders, loading prepaid cards, sending wire transfers, and buying casino chips or lottery tickets.²

Peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App can also flip a transfer into cash advance territory when you fund it with a credit card. Whether it codes as a purchase or an advance depends on the app and the issuer, so check your cardholder agreement before running money through one. If it counts as a cash advance, you pay both the app’s processing fee and your card’s cash advance fee.

What It Actually Costs

The Upfront Fee

Every cash advance carries an immediate transaction fee, usually the greater of $10 or 5% of the amount (some issuers charge as low as 3%).² On a $500 advance at 5%, you owe $525 before a single day of interest. Your exact fee is in your cardholder agreement.

Taking a cash advance while traveling internationally adds a foreign transaction fee of 2% to 3% on most cards. A few travel cards waive it. Check your terms before withdrawing cash abroad.

Interest Starts Immediately

Cash advance APRs run higher than purchase APRs. Averages at banks exceed 29%, while credit unions tend to charge in the range of 18% to 28%.¹ Purchases usually give you at least 21 days before interest kicks in. Cash advances give you none. Interest starts the moment you receive the money and compounds daily until the balance and the fee are fully paid.

Trailing Interest

Even after you pay off the balance, your next statement may show a small interest charge. This is trailing interest, sometimes called residual interest, and it covers the days between your statement closing date and when your payment posted. It’s small, but it means closing out a cash advance often takes one extra billing cycle to zero.

How Much You Can Take Out

Two limits control the amount. The first is your cash advance sub-limit, a slice of your total credit line. A card with a $10,000 overall limit might allow only $2,000 in cash advances.⁴ The second is a daily withdrawal cap. USAA, for example, limits ATM cash advances to $510 per card per day.⁸ These daily caps vary by issuer, and the ATM itself may impose a lower one. If you need more than a single day’s limit, plan on multiple withdrawals across days or a branch visit.

What It Does to Your Credit Score

A cash advance doesn’t appear on your credit report as a distinct transaction, but the amount you borrow (plus the fee, plus interest) raises your card balance and therefore your credit utilization ratio. Utilization accounts for roughly 30% of your FICO score, and pushing a single card above about 30% utilization can start pulling your score down.⁹

Cash advances push utilization up faster than regular spending for two reasons: the fee lands on your balance on day one, and daily interest keeps adding to it. Paying the balance down quickly limits both the utilization hit and the interest total.

Cheaper Ways to Borrow

A cash advance at 5% up front and 29% interest is one of the most expensive ways to get money. Before pulling one, compare it against these options:

Personal loan. Rates typically run from about 8% to 36% depending on credit, with a fixed monthly payment. Even at the high end, there’s no upfront cash advance fee and you get a set payoff schedule.
Payroll advance. Some employers release part of your next paycheck early, often free. Several apps offer the same thing for a small subscription or optional tip.
0% intro APR card. If the reason you need cash is really a purchase, a card with a 0% introductory rate lets you pay over time with no interest during the promo period.
Cash out your rewards. Credit card rewards or cash-back balances can usually be redeemed as a statement credit or direct deposit at no cost.

A cash advance makes sense when you need physical cash or need to complete a transaction that can’t be paid any other way, and no cheaper source is available. If you go ahead with one, pay it off as fast as you can. Every day the balance sits, interest is running.

1
Experian. Current Credit Card Interest Rates
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Data Spotlight – Credit Card Cash Advance Fees Spike After Legalization of Sports Gambling
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Chase. What Is a Cash Advance on a Credit Card and How Does It Work
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PNC Bank. What Is a Cash Advance on a Credit Card
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Capital One Help Center. Request or Change PIN
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Discover. Credit Card Cash Advance
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FDIC.gov. Credit Card Checks and Cash Advances
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USAA. Credit Card Cash Advance FAQ
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Experian. Does a Cash Advance Hurt Your Credit