Extra cash on Amex card

[kinkacruiser]

Finding my feet as a newbie to this loyalty program and enjoy paying everything by Amex. When I'm at the supermarket the checkout lady asks if I'd like extra cash and so I'm wonmdering if it's OK to take cash on the Amex? I don't want to charged interest as I thought this would be a cashg advance.
I pay my ANZ credit card bill in full and have been going to a "free" ATM for the small amount of cash I need.
Thinking it may be more convenient to avail myself to the checkout's cash rather than make a special trip to my bank's ATM....is this the way to go?
Thanks in advance.

 

[11sjw]

You'll pay interest on it straight away so don't take cash.

 

[kinkacruiser]

I'm glad I checked. Thanks for your fast reply. What a great site this is.

 

[Natt]

<redacted>

in all seriousness .. would you like cash on a CC is an invitation to indenture your firstborn into service

my hubbie cash advanced for a coffee - all of $2.50 .. and his wife (thats me) still nags him about it

its not good .. trust me

 

[kinkacruiser]

I did preface this question with "newbie" and plead ignorance re cash advances as I haven't had a credit card for many decades now. It was, I thought, a legitimate question.
I had to google your reference to "troll", as I have never been referred to by that name. According to Wikipedia, a troll is "someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages in an online community.....with the intent of provoking other users into an emotional response."
I do apologise if I caused you any upset or shock.

 

[medhead]

Nothing trolly about your question. The term is not always used 100% correct on here.
Of course if you had of read the terms and conditions on your card you might not have needed to ask the question. That is one key point for the forum most people read and memorise the terms and conditions for all the things they do.

Welcome to AFF Kinkacrusier

 

[11sjw]

I did preface this question with "newbie" and plead ignorance re cash advances as I haven't had a credit card for many decades now. It was, I thought, a legitimate question.
I had to google your reference to "troll", as I have never been referred to by that name. According to Wikipedia, a troll is "someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages in an online community.....with the intent of provoking other users into an emotional response."
I do apologise if I caused you any upset or shock.

In no way have you 'trolled.'

Anyone could've answered "Read your Ts&Cs" but who reads those documents in their entirety?

and yes welcome aboard.

 

[oz_mark]

Anyone could've answered "Read your Ts&Cs" but who reads those documents in their entirety?

Such people exist!

 

[Dave Noble]

Just as a reminder to all, posts attacking other members are not permitted on the fora. If believing that there is an issue with a post, please report it using the "report bad post" facility

Dave

 

[auriga]

Did the cashier ask without realising what sort of card it was?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

You'll pay interest on it straight away so don't take cash.

And besides that you will not earn any points either!!!

Generally speaking getting cash will not be counted asa purchase.

In the USA two exceptions that I am aware of is the US Mint selling $1 coins (to encourage their adoption and circulation) and some US Banks that allow deposits into them to be considered purchases.

In Australia some Option Trading Accounts are similar...but beware you may lose more than you earn!!!

However in Australia there is basically little one can do to "earn" "free" points in such ways.

 

[Natt]

I did preface this question with "newbie" and plead ignorance re cash advances as I haven't had a credit card for many decades now. It was, I thought, a legitimate question.
I had to google your reference to "troll", as I have never been referred to by that name. According to Wikipedia, a troll is "someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages in an online community.....with the intent of provoking other users into an emotional response."
I do apologise if I caused you any upset or shock.

oh darn - that was meant to be a joke

yes it is a legitimate question

Please be assured that my post was not intended to offend you.

I won't put a lengthy explanation of my thinking at the time, as I don't this would be helpful. Also its clear regardless of my intent foot is well and truly in my mouth.

my sincere apologies

 

[medhead]

Did the cashier ask without realising what sort of card it was?

This is what I usually assume when they ask me about cash out on AMEX or other CC. Sometimes I get asked before I select account, there are some people who have CC and savings accounts linked on the same card and hence might want cash, if using the savings

 

[Mal]

Finding my feet as a newbie to this loyalty program and enjoy paying everything by Amex. When I'm at the supermarket the checkout lady asks if I'd like extra cash and so I'm wonmdering if it's OK to take cash on the Amex? I don't want to charged interest as I thought this would be a cashg advance.

I believe that the system will fail when the cashier types in the additional cash-out amount, or it will never prompt.

It's ROTE that they ask that question, and most likely don't know the ins and outs.

As discussed earlier - if it does succeed (which I don't believe it will), then it will most likely be considered a cash advance.

 

[yohy?!]

They shouldn't be able to put cash transactions through an eftpos terminal against any type of Amex card.

Generally you can only use cash withdrawal facilities at an atm that is part of the Amex network.

In the past hotels or restaurants would sometimes 'help out' customers by charging purchases against their Amex and giving them cash but this is definetely in violation of their merchant agreement.

You also used to be able to buy traveller's cheques from Amex on your Amex charge card (not credit card) up to a certain daily limit with no interest charges...not sure if this is still the case though.

 

[JohnK]

I have not switched on the cash withdrawal feature on my Amex card but I did not think it was possible to withdraw cash from Amex at supermarkets anyway.

Still does not stop the check-out operator asking if I would like any cash out when paying by Amex. And I also love the "Do you have an Everyday Rewards card?" when the bill is way less than $30. Feel like reminding them but I think it is a lost cause....

 

[greenfrog86]

This is an interesting point...

Whilst it is true that many operators ask about taking cash before they see your payment type, I have noticed that the Woolies self-serve machines ask you to choose between 'purchase amount' and 'another amount' when selecting credit as well....

I assume that this is so that you can select an amount lower than your purchase to enable dual payment (ie half on card, half cash or something), however has anyone tried to see if they can enter an amount higher than the purchase amount?

Aren't EFTPOS purchases where they give you extra cash just considered as a total transaction by the merchant and customer? ie $30 groceries plus $20 cash takes $50 out of your account and gives $50 to the merchant....

If they could enter a differing amount for an Amex purchase, wouldn't it just show up as a total transaction for the purchase plus the extra amount?
If this is the case, then it could not be considered a 'cash-advance' per se as there was a purchase as well (thus the whole transaction not fitting into the rules of a cash equivalent purchase as something has actually been bought). If you were to get charged interest, it could only be charged on the cash componant of the transaction and not the purchase componant. My point being that they are not seperate transactions so the acquirer/issuer would not necessarily know that this was a split amount.

This is of course pure speculation as I doubt that any merchant would actually give you cash against a credit card when making a purchase in the way that EFTPOS works.

Would be interested to hear other's thoughts on this, as I am inclined to disagree with those suggesting such an amount would be a 'cash advance' and attract interest....(although agree it would cause some mess in trying to work out how it would fit within the T&Cs)

 

[notzac]

Would be interested to hear other's thoughts on this, as I am inclined to disagree with those suggesting such an amount would be a 'cash advance' and attract interest....(although agree it would cause some mess in trying to work out how it would fit within the T&Cs)

I believe each are processed as separate txn's - one for the purchase, one for the cash advance.

 

[greenfrog86]

I believe each are processed as separate txn's - one for the purchase, one for the cash advance.

This would have to be put through manually as seperate txns in that case - all the more reason for a merchant not to entertain that thought...

Merchants like the big supermarkets love chip+pin on credit cards as it speeds up their customer processing times greatly...they would never want to put through cash txns on CC's then..

This still isnt really the point that I was making in that I'm interested to know whether a txn could be put through for an amount higher than the 'purchase amount' (ie goods received + a cash component) and have the whole txn count as a purchase...

As another post pointed out, this may be in breach of merchant rules, however I think the idea of it is interesting...