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When I go to the grocery store I have the opportunity to get cash back (groceries cost $23, I opt for $20 cash back, and my card gets charged $43 instead of $23 leaving me with $20 cash in-hand).

My question is this: Does AMEX see the cash-back portion of this transaction as a cash advance or do they simply regard the $20 as money spent at a grocery store?

rein
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3 Answers3

38

You will have to read your credit card's terms and conditions to determine exactly how this is handled for your card, but for my Discover this is handled as a purchase (at the Purchase APR), not as an advance.

The benefits description is specific:

Get cash where you shop the most

  • Get the cash you need without an extra trip to the ATM.
  • Avoid fees- No transaction fee. No ATM fee. No bank fee.
  • Your regular purchase APR applies to the cash you get and there are no hidden fees.

They have a long list of stores (mostly grocery stores) that participate. Your credit card will have a similar page and similar list.

Community
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Joe
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26

There may be a confusion here: I don't think you can get cash back at a register with a credit card. See http://www.cardratings.com/can-i-get-cash-back-when-i-buy-something-with-a-credit-card.html

Cash back is only available with a debit card. With a debit card, the money comes directly out of your account at the moment of the transaction. With a credit card, the CC company loans the money to you and you get a monthly bill. You can get cash advances at ATM machines, but typically comes with hefty fees and exorbitant interest rates, so I strongly advice against this.

There are "Cash Back" credit cards, but that means that you get a percentage of your purchases refunded as cash (or points).

Hilmar
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My visa would put the goods on the current monthly balance which is no-interest, but the cash part becomes part of the immediate interest-bearing sum.

There is no option for getting cash without paying immediate interest, except perhaps for buying something then immediately returning it, but most merchants will do a refund to the card instead of cash in hand.

This is in New Zealand, other regions may have different rules.

Also, if I use the "cheque" or "savings" options at the eftpos machine instead of the "credit" option, then I can have cash immediately, withdrawn from my account, with no interest charge. However the account has to have sufficient balance to do so.

Criggie
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