Professional Ideas

In the world of credit cards, a cash advance is an option cardholders can use to borrow actual currency against their current balances. For most credit card users, the amount of cash available for a cash advance is a small percentage of their overall credit limit. Statements issued by the bank will generally provide two sets of numbers: the credit limit and the cash advance limit.

Receiving a cash advance can simply be a matter of using a credit card at the nearest ATM. Many electronic banking machines offer credit card users the option of a cash advance.

As long as the requested amount does not exceed the current cash advance limit, the ATM or other electronic banking machine should dispense real currency. If the amount of the cash advance does exceed the current limit, the ATM may still dispense the money but also electronically flag the exchange. An unauthorized cash advance might be handled in the same manner as a purchase over the credit limit.