Credit cards give you easy access to a line of credit that you can use to borrow money when making purchases. However, some people and merchants don’t accept credit cards. And if you don’t have enough cash to cover the expense right now, you might look for ways to get money from your credit card to your bank account.
Can you transfer money from a credit card to a bank account?
There are a few ways to get cash from your credit card into your bank account. However, you’ll generally have to pay a cash advance fee and a cash advance isn’t eligible to earn rewards. Also, the money you withdraw will likely be at a higher interest rate than you would pay on regular purchases.
As a result, even when it’s an option, it isn’t necessarily the best way to borrow money and should probably be used as a last resort.
How to transfer money from a credit card to your bank account
Here are several options if you want to use your credit card to transfer money to your bank account. Before requesting a transfer, review your card’s terms and fees — along with the terms and fees for any third-party service you use.
Balance transfers
People most commonly use balance transfers to move balances between credit cards. It can be a strategic move that helps you pay off credit card debt by moving high-interest balances to a card with a promotional 0% annual percentage rate (APR) balance transfer offer.
Some credit card issuers also let you “transfer” a balance to a checking account. You might be able to do this via your online account. Or if you received a balance transfer check, you can deposit the check into your bank account.
In either case, there could be a balance transfer fee — often 3% to 5% of the amount you transfer. Still, if you are going to take cash off of your credit card, this is likely the best way to do it. Balance transfers generally have favorable interest rates, potentially even 0% if you are taking advantage of a welcome offer.
It takes just a few steps to perform a balance transfer. Here’s how to do one.
Cash advances
A cash advance may be the simplest way to use your credit card to get cash. Similar to using a debit card, you can use your credit card to withdraw cash at an ATM or bank teller and then deposit the money into your bank account.
Most credit cards charge a 3% to 5% cash advance fee on each transaction. Additionally, credit cards may have a lower cash advance limit than your card’s credit limit and a higher interest rate than the interest rate for purchases and balance transfers. Cash advances may also start to accrue interest immediately, even if you’ve been paying your balance in full.
Money-transfer services
Some money-transfer services allow you to send money directly to a bank account. People often use these to send money to relatives and friends in other countries, but you could use them to send money to your own bank.
For example, Western Union and MoneyGram both allow you to use credit cards to pay for the transfers. The fees can vary, and you may be able to save money by signing up for loyalty programs or using promo codes. However, your credit card issuer will likely consider these transfers a cash advance and charge you fees and interest.
Note that with this method, you are paying both the credit card fees and the fees from the transfer service.
Payment apps
Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps let you connect a credit card and send payments to other people. But they aren’t ideal for moving money from a credit card to a bank account because you can’t add balances directly to your account using a credit card.
Instead, you’ll need to send money to someone else, which will incur a fee if you use a credit card, and trust that they’ll send it right back to you. Then, you can request the transfer to your bank account, which could take several days unless you pay an additional fee.
Here are the transfer and instant deposit fees for three popular P2P apps:
- Venmo: Venmo charges a 3% fee if you use a credit card to send money to someone else. Once the money is back in your account, there’s a 1.75% fee ($0.25 minimum and $25 maximum) to request an instant transfer to your bank account.
- PayPal: PayPal, which owns Venmo, charges 30 cents plus 2.90% of the amount you send. There’s a similar 1.75% fee ($0.25 minimum and $25 maximum) to speed up the deposit into your bank account.
- Cash App: Cash App charges a 3% fee for each credit card transfer and a 0.5% to 1.75% fee ($0.25 min) for instant deposits.
These are only the fees that the payment apps charge. You may need to also pay credit card cash advance fees, and interest, on the amount you initially send.
How much can you transfer?
The maximum amount you can transfer will depend on your credit card’s cash advance limit, balance transfer limit or the limit imposed by the service you’re using. For example, you might be limited to withdrawing a few hundred dollars from an ATM but can send thousands of dollars using a money transfer service.
Should you transfer cash from your credit card to your bank account?
Because of all the fees and potential roadblocks involved, trying to use a credit card to transfer money to your bank account generally isn’t the best idea.
Other options, such as dipping into savings, using a cash advance app or taking out a personal loan may be less expensive. Still, you might want to be aware of options in case you’re in a pinch and don’t have the savings, time or good enough credit to qualify for one of the alternatives.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
You might be able to quickly transfer money from a credit card to a bank account if you use a cash advance at your bank and then deposit the money.
Another way would be to send money to a friend using a payment app, they send it right back and then you use an instant deposit feature to transfer the money into your checking account. However, you’ll likely have to pay a cash advance fee to your card issuer and an instant transfer fee to the app.
The costs will depend on how you make the transfer and the various accounts’ terms and fees. Often, credit cards may charge around 3% to 5% in cash advance or balance transfer fees. Cash advances may also start to accrue interest immediately.
Money-transfer services and payment apps may charge additional fees to send money using a credit card and quickly move funds to your bank account.
There are several ways to transfer money to a bank account using a credit card, but most require one — or several — fees. One exception might be if your credit card issuer allows you to use balance transfers to move money to your bank account and it doesn’t charge any balance transfer fees. However, even when this is the case, the transferred balance may still accrue interest.
