What is a cash advance?
A cash advance is a short-term credit obtained by borrowing money against a credit card’s available balance.
Because of the potential for high costs associated with cash advances, you should carefully consider whether you really need the money and whether a cash advance is the best option before applying.
How do cash advances work from Ipass?
Your credit limit determines how much you can borrow in advance from Ipass Loans, which is a credit card cash loan. Depending on who issued your card, you may be able to borrow up to your card’s cash advance limit. Calling the bank that issued your card or consulting the terms and conditions listed in the Schumer Box will provide you with the exact interest rate charged on cash advances made with your specific card.
A cash advance is typically provided by an automated teller machine (ATM) or a bank connected to the payment network linked to your credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover). When you get a cash advance, the borrowed amount is added to your outstanding balance, and interest starts accruing right away.
Why are cash advances expensive?
Although obtaining a cash advance is not difficult, it will cost you significant money. Consider the following factors that raise the cost of a cash advance:
transaction fees
To receive any type of cash advance, you must pay a transaction fee ranging from 3% to 5% of the total amount borrowed. If you take out a cash advance for the full amount of $300, the transaction fee is $15.
Consider the following: Credit card companies currently charge an average interest rate of about 16%. Your card’s annual percentage rate (APR), which may be higher or lower than the average, is significantly higher than the average APR for cash advances, which is 24.80 percent.
To be prepared, research and determine the true cost of a cash advance before applying for one.
without a grace period
Many responsible cardholders are surprised to discover that credit card companies do not provide the same grace period for cash advances as they do for regular purchases. Instead, interest will accumulate once you take out a cash advance on your account.
How to get a cash advance from a credit card?
To enable the cash advance feature on your credit card, contact the company that issued your card and request a personal identification number (PIN). Then, just like a debit card, you can withdraw cash from an ATM by inserting your card and entering your PIN. The only difference at the automated teller machine will be that you will select the cash advance option rather than your checking or savings account. The amount of money you want to withdraw must then be entered.
Of course, you won’t be able to use more money than your available credit line allows. Most credit card companies limit your cash advances daily to a few hundred dollars. To put it another way, a cash advance may not be the best option if you need more than a few hundred dollars to deal with an emergency.
How to minimize the cost of a credit card cash advance?
If you are in a serious financial emergency, you may still want to get an Ipass.net cash advance, despite the high-interest rates and transaction fees. In this situation, knowing how to reduce cash advance costs can be beneficial.
Don’t take on more debt than is necessary.
The best way to keep cash advance costs low is only to borrow what you need. Fees and interest are required to be paid in an amount less than the amount of cash advance. A cash advance is a bank loan. Reduce the material removed at the start of the process to accelerate.
You should repay your cash advance as soon as possible.
You should start repaying the money you borrowed as soon as possible because interest on advances starts accruing the day you receive it.
Make it a priority to repay the entire $200 cash advance or as much of it as possible on top of your minimum payment. Set a goal of repaying the loan in days rather than weeks. Don’t even think about the months. At a 25% annual rate, a $1,000 cash advance will accrue interest at a daily rate of about 70 cents. You won’t have to worry about interest accruing if you can pay it off in a few weeks. However, interest in this topic will grow over time.
On the statement that comes with your credit card, you should be able to see the various interest rates that apply to purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers. Credit card companies are required by the Credit CARD Act of 2009 to use overpayments to balances with the highest interest rates before applying them to the minimum amount owed. This is a very encouraging development. Extra payments were typically applied first to balances with the lowest interest rates before the passage of this critical consumer protection law. As a result, paying off balances with higher interest rates would take longer. After the law was passed, this practice was discontinued.
How much does a cash advance cost from Ipass?
Bankrate’s credit card calculator allows you to calculate how much a cash advance will cost you in total and how the various payment options will affect the total amount you have to pay back.
Assume you agree to a $500 cash advance with a $15 minimum monthly payment and a 25% annual rate. If you paid that amount every month, it would take you 58 months (nearly five years!) to pay off the remaining debt. In addition, you’d have to pay at least $3 to use an ATM, $25 (5%) for a cash advance, and $362 in interest. So, if you want to borrow $500, you’ll have to pay $390 in fees and interest.
If you only pay the minimum amount due each month, a cash advance will cost you 78% more than the $500 you borrowed in the first place. You could pay off your debt in 21 months if you doubled your monthly payment to $30. However, you would have to pay an additional $120 in interest (24 percent more than the amount borrowed). However, if you tripled your payment to $45 per month, it would take only 13 months and would cost you an additional $75 in interest. (15%) greater).
This demonstrates how crucial it is to pay more than the minimum amount to reduce the total cost of a cash advance. You will be able to pay off your debt faster and with less interest if you can make significantly higher payments than the minimum. If you cannot pay more than the minimum, you should save money instead of taking out a cash advance.
When to take out a cash advance from Ipass?
You may find yourself in a situation where a cash advance on your credit card appears to be the best option due to its speed. Even though this is true, you should only use a cash advance if you have no other options. If you have other options, the hole you might fall into isn’t worth the trouble.
If a cash advance is your only option for getting cash quickly, make sure you understand all the fees and have a plan to repay it. Borrow only what you need because the less you borrow, the less interest you will have to pay.
What are the other alternatives to using a credit card to obtain cash?
Before you get a cash advance that will cost you a lot of money, consider these other options for meeting your needs while saving money.
Please request an extension.
Rather than obtaining a cash advance to pay a bill, you may be able to convince your creditor to change or extend your due date. You may even be able to set up a payment plan to catch up without negatively impacting your credit score. Many creditors will even allow customers to put their accounts on hold for weeks or months if they are having difficulty paying their bills.
It won’t hurt to discuss your options with your creditors. You might get the freedom you need to deal with an emergency or cost.
Friends and family
Borrowing money from a friend or family member may be more convenient and less expensive, but it may also harm your relationship with the person who gives you the money. If you go this route, ensure you and the other person agree on the ground rules before accepting any cash.
Loan for individuals
A personal loan may be a high-interest, expensive option if you don’t have good credit. The interest rates and terms are usually much better than a cash advance.
The bottom line
Because of the high-interest rates, transaction fees, and other costs associated with cash advances, they should only be used as a last resort. Consider other options, such as requesting more time, obtaining a personal loan, or requesting assistance from a friend or family member.
If you don’t have many options and a cash advance is your best bet, you can keep the cost down by only taking a small amount and repaying the rest as soon as possible.
Celine Jesza Afana
Personal Finance Writer at Ipass
Celine Jesza Afana is a Finance writer at Ipass an online leader in a payday loan company, providing fast, easy, and safe payday loans online to its customers. Celine has extensive experience working in the financial industry, with a specialization in lending and administration management. She also is proficient in customer service, customer services, and a variety of payday lending industry functions. She has been working hard in the company’s efforts to help those with jobs that aren’t so easy and financial issues get money when they require it the most.
