Paul Kessler, WalletHub Credit Card Analyst
@p.kessler
Cash advances are costly. Not only do they bear very high interest rates, but they also come with hefty cash advance fees.
First, for a cash advance of $1,000, you'll be charged a flat rate fee of about $30 (it's usually around 3% of the advance and you get charged for each advance, no matter how much money you withdraw). Then, interest will start accruing from the moment you perform the withdrawal. The interest would be about 82 cents per day (as your daily interest rate is your APR/365). But it would slightly increase every day as the interest would compound, meaning you'd pay interest on the interest you've already accrued. So you're looking at about $35 interest for the first month.
The bottom line is that you'll have to pay a total of $65+ in fees only for the $1,000 cash advance after the first month so is that it's best to avoid credit card cash advances unless it's an emergency. And if you must get one, pay it off as soon as possible.
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