Wiktionary
n. The money obtained using a service allowing credit cardholders to withdraw cash, either through an ATM or over the counter at a bank or other financial agency, up to a certain limit.
WordNet
n. an amount paid before it is earned [syn: advance]
Wikipedia
A cash advance is a service provided by most credit card and charge card issuers. The service allows cardholders to withdraw cash, either through an ATM or over the counter at a bank or other financial agency, up to a certain limit. For a credit card, this will be the credit limit (or some percentage of it).
Cash advances often incur a fee of 3 to 5 percent of the amount being borrowed. When made on a credit card, the interest is often higher than other credit card transactions. The interest compounds daily starting from the day cash is borrowed.
Some "purchases" made with a credit card of items that are viewed as cash are also considered to be cash advances in accordance with the credit card network's guidelines, thereby incurring the higher interest rate and the lack of the grace period. These often include money orders, lottery tickets, gaming chips, and certain taxes and fees paid to certain governments. However, should the merchant not disclose the actual nature of the transactions, these will be processed as regular credit card transactions. Many merchants have passed on the credit card processing fees to the credit card holders in spite of the credit card network's guidelines, which state the credit card holders should not have any extra fee for doing a transaction with a credit card.
Under card scheme rules, a credit card holder presenting an accepted form of identification must be issued a cash advance over the counter at any bank which issues that type of credit card, even if the cardholder cannot give his or her PIN.
Category:Credit card terminology Category:Business terms
Usage examples of "cash advance".
Hed brought a lot of cash, more than hed planned on spending, and he got more in the form of a cash advance on his Visa card.
Han had put the word abroad that he and his ship were available for hire and disinclined to ask questions, and the job had come, as Sonniod had predicted it would, from unseen sources in the form of a faceless audio tape and a small cash advance.
Castle sipped orange juice on his own for an hour, pleased that he could pocket the cash advance, and then collected the completed questionnaires.
He called back to tell John he had arranged for a $118,000 credit line on his Visa card, which would translate to a cash advance at any local bank.
The business part of my business, currently, is about publishers producing legitimate editions of my work, which they then distribute for sale, a certain predetermined portion of the price returning to me as royalties (against the publishers cash advance).
It certainly seemed like the wrong time to ask for a cash advance.