Can you get cash back with a credit card?

One meaning of “cash back” is definitely a possibility with your credit cards. If you’re interested in earning rewards on your everyday spending, there are certainly myriad options that allow you to collect points or otherwise rack up “cash back” when you make purchases at stores, gas pumps, online and just about anywhere you use your credit cards.

Cash-back credit cards can even be tailored to provide you with the highest possible cash back to fit your lifestyle. In other words, if you spend a lot of money monthly on gas, you’ll want to look for a cash-back credit card that offers you particularly high rewards earning potential at gas stations. If you’re a regular grocery store spender, the same logic applies: Look for a cash-back card that offers higher rewards for spending at grocery stores.

While cash-back credit cards don’t provide instant cash in your hand at a cash register, they do offer plenty of opportunity to earn cash back for buying something with your credit card, there’s just a bit of a delayed-gratification factor to consider.

No, you can’t use your credit card for cash back at stores; this is a transaction generally reserved for debit cards and, in fact, is only possible at some stores even then. 

In general, you’ll want to use a debit card for cash back, whether via a transaction at an eligible store or through an ATM withdrawal. There is, however, one major credit card issuer that does allow cash back at checkout. We cover this more below.

You can can use a credit card to get cash at an ATM by making a cash advance. A cash advance is a transaction through which you draw upon your credit card’s line of credit to withdraw cash, whether through an ATM or with a teller at a financial institution. Though it can be easy to confuse the two, the main difference between cash back and a cash advance is that cash-back rewards are something that can be earned with certain credit cards. A cash advance is a feature offered by most cards which allows you to withdraw cash. Usually, the amount of cash available for cash advances will be less than your full credit limit available for purchases. In other words, if you have a $10,000 credit limit, you’re unlikely to be allowed to withdrawal a full $10,000 as a cash advance. 

According to most industry analysts who watch these kinds of statistics, cash advances have declined in popularity over the past few years. So many merchants accept credit cards, it’s often easier to transact with plastic than with greenbacks, anyway.

Things to consider before taking a cash advance

Even the best credit cards charge certain fees, so should you require cash in an emergency, here’s what you might end up paying if you take a cash advance:

• Cash advance fee. Many banks now charge an upfront fee of up to 5% when you convert part of your credit limit into cash.
• Immediate finance charges. Unlike purchases, most cash advances immediately start racking up interest. Many banks charge higher APRs for cash advances than for purchases.
• Network access fee. Your bank and the ATM network could each charge you a service fee of a few dollars for handling your cash advance.
• Teller processing fee. If you make your cash advance request from a live person at a bank or at a travel services agency, you can expect to pay an even higher service charge.

You can also get cash from your credit card by using convenience checks. Most of us use these to take advantage of balance transfer offers when we want to pay off a debt that’s not linked to a major online bill payment service. Convenience checks often carry their own fees of up to 5% of face value.

One final – but not necessarily recommended – method to get cash from your credit card involves reloading prepaid debit cards at particular retail locations. However, merchants can dictate whether they process this kind of transaction as a cash advance. If you find one that doesn’t, you can pay a flat fee for the reload card, then withdraw the cash from a participating ATM. Due to the potential for fraud, many merchants decline to sell prepaid card reload packs to customers using anything other than ATM cards or cash.

Used sparingly, this can be an inexpensive way to tap some cash from a credit card without paying hefty fees. Some cards may charge various fees for activation or usage, so be sure you fully understand the fees attached to the prepaid card.

Cash back vs. cash advances

You can use your credit card for cash back without a PIN if you head into a bank branch and complete the transaction with a teller. Note that you’ll need the card as well as a government issued ID in order to do this and, as mentioned above, there could be a fee associated with making your request through a person rather than an ATM.

To use an ATM for a cash advance, you will need a PIN. You’ll save yourself a potential fee for going through a person, but you could still be on the hook for the other fees mentioned above.