For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company. Show Permalink Report Abuse A Discover cash advance will set you back a lot, unfortunately. For starters, there’s the standard Discover cash advance fee: Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater. All Discover credit cards have that. And the same is true of Discover’s cash advance APR: 28.74% Variable (as of December 15, 2022). That’s standard, too. When you do a cash advance with a Discover card, you don’t get any time to pay off what you owe before interest kicks in. With a normal purchase, if you pay in full by the due date, you don’t pay any interest. But with cash advances, the interest rate applies immediately and interest compounds daily. That means interest applies to both your balance and previous days’ interest. So, it’ll build up very quickly. To do a cash advance with your Discover card, you’ll first need to request a PIN by calling the number on the back of your card. You’ll get it in 7-10 days and then will be able to use your card at ATMs. That’s pretty much all you need to know about how to do a cash advance. But it might be helpful to go into a little more depth about the fee and interest process, and how the cost builds up. Let’s do a quick example of how a Discover cash advance works. Say you do a $300 cash advance. Add on a 5% fee, and you start out owing $315 (assuming there are no ATM fees). If you take even just 1 month to pay that back, you’re paying around $7 in interest. Assuming you make the same payment every month, taking 6 months will cost you around $25, and a year will be about $48. So, as you can see, it’s in your best interest to pay things off as quickly as possible. In addition to you being charged large fees and interest, your relationship with Discover may suffer. In particular, it might be harder to get a credit limit increase in the future. So, it’s best to never take out a cash advance unless that’s your only choice. And if you’re ever in that situation, paying back what you owe as quickly as possible is crucial. 1 0 ShareJake Tellien, Member@jaket6 • 03/08/18 This answer was first published on 03/08/18. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company. Permalink Report Abuse All cash advances are bad, to be honest. With Discover, it's gonna be $10 or 5% just as a fee, and then the interest that starts piling up from that day. “Expert verified” means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced. Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content. About our Review BoardWritten by Aja McClanahan Written by Aja McClanahanArrow RightPersonal Finance Writer Aja McClanahan is an author, blogger and speaker on personal finance and entrepreneurship. Aja is the author of "How a Mother Should Talk About Money with Her Daughter."
Aja McClanahan Edited by Claire Dickey Edited by Claire DickeyArrow RightEditor, Product Claire Dickey is a product editor for Bankrate, CreditCards.com and To Her Credit. Before joining Bankrate, Claire worked as a copywriter for brands within the telecommunications industry as well as a hybrid marketing and content writer.
Claire Dickey Reviewed by Liz Bingler Reviewed by Liz BinglerArrow RightAssociate Editor Liz Bingler is an Associate Editor for CreditCards.com and Bankrate, where she focuses on product news and reviews. As an editor, her goal is to produce content that will help people to make informed financial decisions. |