Credit Card Cash Advance Calculator
Enter the amount, your card's cash advance fee and APR, and the days until you pay it back. The calculator returns the fee, the interest that starts on day one, the total cost and the effective APR, so you can hold the card up against a payday loan and see which one actually costs less.
How the Credit Card Cash Advance Calculator Works
Pulling cash on a credit card triggers three charges that a purchase never does. A cash advance fee, usually 3% to 5% of the amount with a floor of $5 or $10. A cash advance APR, which most issuers set several points above the purchase APR. And, if you used a machine, an ATM operator fee. The CFPB's plain description is that interest on a cash advance starts the day you take it, because the grace period that lets you pay purchases interest-free does not apply to cash.
The calculator adds the three up. Fee = amount x fee rate, or the minimum, whichever is larger. Interest = amount x APR x days / 365. Total cost = fee + interest + ATM fee. The effective APR then puts that total on the same footing as a payday loan: total cost / amount x 365 / days. It is not the figure on your statement; it is the figure that lets you compare the card with anything else.
Worked Example: $500 for 30 Days
Card terms: 5% fee with a $10 minimum, 29.99% cash advance APR, a $3 ATM fee, paid in full 30 days later.
- Fee: 5% of $500 = $25. That is above the $10 minimum, so $25 applies.
- Interest: $500 x 0.2999 = $149.95 a year. Divide by 365 for $0.4108 a day. Times 30 days = $12.32.
- ATM fee: $3.
- Total cost: 25 + 12.32 + 3 = $40.32. You repay $540.32.
- Effective APR: 40.32 / 500 = 0.0806. Times 365 / 30 (12.17) = 0.981, or 98.1%.
Compare that with $500 from a payday lender at $15 per $100: $75 for 14 days, 391% APR. The card costs $34.68 less and gives you 30 days rather than 14. The catch is that the card version needs three things you may not have: the card, enough cash advance limit (issuers set it below the credit limit, often well below), and the discipline to pay it off before the interest settles into a balance you carry for months.
The Fee Is Flat, So Time Cuts Both Ways
| Days until paid | Interest | Total cost | Effective APR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | $2.88 | $30.88 | 322.0% |
| 14 | $5.75 | $33.75 | 176.0% |
| 30 | $12.32 | $40.32 | 98.1% |
| 90 | $36.97 | $64.97 | 52.7% |
The fee and the ATM charge stay at $28 whichever row you pick. Interest climbs with the days, but the effective APR falls, because the flat $28 gets spread across more of them. So a card cash advance is at its worst as a very short bridge and at its most reasonable as a two- or three-month loan, which is the reverse of how most people use it. If you only need the money for a week and will repay from the next paycheck, the $25 fee is doing nearly all the damage: $500 for 7 days costs $30.88, and $28 of that is fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there no grace period on a credit card cash advance?
The grace period is the window between the statement date and the due date in which purchases carry no interest if you paid the prior balance in full. Card agreements apply it to purchases only. The CFPB's guidance is blunt about it: interest on a cash advance starts on the transaction date, so even a balance you clear on the next statement costs something.
What counts as a cash advance on a credit card?
An ATM withdrawal, a cash-over-the-counter advance at a bank, a convenience check, and often anything the issuer codes as cash-like: money orders, wire transfers, lottery tickets, casino chips, some cryptocurrency purchases and some peer-to-peer transfers. The cardholder agreement lists what your issuer treats as cash.
Where do I find my card's cash advance fee and APR?
In the rate and fee table that Regulation Z requires on every card application and account-opening disclosure, and on the back of each statement. Look for two lines: "APR for cash advances" and "Transaction fees: cash advances", usually written as "either $10 or 5% of the amount, whichever is greater".
Is a credit card cash advance cheaper than a payday loan?
In dollars, usually by a wide margin. $500 for 30 days costs about $40 on a typical card and $75 for 14 days from a payday lender at $15 per $100. The card only wins if you have one, if the cash advance limit covers the amount, and if you actually pay it off rather than letting it sit at 30% on top of a purchase balance.
How do I pay it off fastest?
Pay more than the minimum. Under Regulation Z 1026.53, the issuer must apply any amount above the minimum to the highest-APR balance first, which is almost always the cash advance. The minimum itself can go to your cheapest balance, so paying only the minimum leaves the advance accruing at the higher rate.
