Glossary
Cash advance
A cash advance is withdrawing cash against your credit card limit — one of the most expensive things you can do with a credit card, with no grace period and a separate, higher fee and interest rate.
Cash advances typically carry their own (higher) APR than regular purchases, a flat cash-advance fee (often 3–4% of the amount withdrawn, with a minimum charge), and no interest-free grace period — interest starts accruing from the moment the cash leaves the ATM, even if you pay your statement in full that month.
Many people trigger a cash advance unintentionally: using a credit card to buy foreign currency, pay certain government fees, buy cryptocurrency, or pay off another loan can all be classified as a cash-equivalent transaction by the issuer, attracting cash-advance terms instead of purchase terms.
If you need cash, a personal loan or overdraft is almost always cheaper than a credit card cash advance. Check your issuer's list of cash-equivalent transaction types before assuming a purchase-rate card treats every transaction the same way.