Last time I wrote about How To Deposit Cash To Online Bank Account. This time I’m writing about the opposite: when you use an online bank for your main checking account, how do you withdraw cash, especially a large amount?
If you answer ATM or cash back with debit card purchase at a store, that’s too easy. There is a limit on how much you can withdraw from ATMs in a 24-hour period. It’s usually $500 or so. There’s also a limit on how much cash back you can get with each purchase at a store. What if you need more?
You may ask why would you need more than $500 in cash. Maybe you are buying something on Craigslist and they only want cash. Maybe you are taking the cash overseas because the mighty dollar is the preferred hard currency there.
It would be cheating if you transfer the money to a local, brick-and-mortar bank account before withdrawing it there, because then you are not withdrawing cash from an online bank account. You are withdrawing from a local, brick-and-mortar bank account. The whole point of using an online bank for your checking account is not having to keep an account at a local, brick-and-mortar bank.
Answer: Debit Card Cash Advance
I don’t know if that’s the official term but that’s what it is. You walk into a bank, any bank or credit union; you don’t need an account there. You tell the teller:
“I’d like to take a cash advance against my Visa card.” (or MasterCard, if your debit card is a MasterCard)
Don’t mention it’s a debit card. You will only confuse them. As long as the card carries a Visa or MasterCard logo, they will do it the same way whether it’s credit or debit. They will ask for your ID. Then they will run your card on a terminal. It’s very similar to how you swipe your card when you buy something at a store. You sign the slip before they give you the cash.
The bank doesn’t charge you a fee just as a store doesn’t charge you a fee when you buy stuff. Think of it as buying cash. In fact the bank that gives you the cash advance will earn a fee from your bank for their service. So they happily do it for you.
There is a dollar limit for this as well, but it’s much higher than the daily ATM withdrawal limit. The limit on my account is $2,000 per day. If you want to find out what your limit is, ask your bank about the daily purchase limit on your debit card. Don’t ask the customer service rep about cash advance against the debit card. They often don’t know about it. When I asked my credit union about it, the service rep told me it was not supported although I did it several times already.
As far as your bank is concerned, the cash advance looks just like a purchase. Theoretically it’s possible for a bank to block cash advance on debit cards but it’s rare. Before you rely on it for a large withdrawal, try it for $100 first.
[Photo credit: Flickr user Minneapolis Institute of Arts]
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indexfundfan says
I find it hard to believe that the megabanks will do this without additional cost to me.
Imagine if I were to show up at the doorsteps of BofA with a third party debit card to get money. I have two choices — either go to the ATM machine or to the teller inside the branch (assuming office hours).
If I go to the ATM machine, I will get charge a fee by BofA for the ATM withdrawal. On the other hand, if I go to the teller, I can get cash without additional fees? I think BofA is even charging some of its own customers the privilege of talking to the teller in the branch if they do it too often.
Poma says
Not always. I work at a smallish community size bank and we don’t charge, however some banks might, including your own bank whose card you’re doing the cash advance from. Always read over the fee schedule and disclosures both before opening an account and before doing a transaction you’re not sure of.
Also, it’s amusing that the writer warns against confusing the bank teller. They’re trained to know more policies, procedures, and fees than the average person would know over their whole life. More often, the customer is the one who thinks their debit card is a credit card and calls it such even though it says debit on the front.
Kaylla Kr Ramirez says
how can i get it
Bucky says
I thought retailers/merchants had to pay a fee when a customer uses a debit card? The fee doesn’t apply for cash advances?
Harry says
indexfundfan – Shh… Don’t tell them you are trying to beat the ATM fee. It works.
Bucky – Retailers pay a fee when you use a debit card or a credit card. Banks dispensing cash advance are just the opposite: they earn a fee.
Sam Seattle says
Oh my God …. shh… don’t tell them you are trying to beat the ATM fee. It works. OMG! Super!
Sandra says
There is no free lunch here. Your credit card provider will start charging you interest on the cash advance beginning on the day of the transaction. The annualized rate will be up to 22% depending on your particular card (read the fine print details). There is no grace period and you will pay this interest charge even if you normally always pay off your credit card balance every month.
Jackson says
““I’d like to take a cash advance against my Visa card.” (or MasterCard, if your debit card is a MasterCard)
Don’t mention it’s a debit card. You will only confuse them.”
This is for debit cards but LIKE doing it with a credit card.
Sandra says
On second thought, please disregard my last post. I was thinking of credit cards, not debit cards.
Harry @ PF Pro says
Not that I don’t believe you but I went to try this on Monday. Banks were closed though haha. Apparently there is a holiday for MLK that my work doesn’t ever seem to celebrate 😉
Harry says
Harry – You are doing it right. I said try it for $100 first. Then you will be prepared when you really need it.
nicole codner says
Would if you don’t have debit card
Justin L says
I tried this for the first time the other day, I have USAA and I went to a FirstTech bank (I have an account with both banks) I asked for a cash advance on my Visa and they were happy to help, my first transaction was $900 and I had no problems and no fees from either side.
planetjanet says
I’ve posted about this technique as well, my own bank (USAA) actually suggested it when I called them up to raise my ATM limit. I was buying a used car and planned on doing repeated ATM withdrawals, and they were very aware of the exact terminology (“debit card cash advance”) and stressed that there would be no fees. The funds cleared immediately as cash into the seller’s account.
It’s an excellent trick that should be more widely known.
Slotzy says
Does this work at banks only? How about cash advance tellers at casinos? I’d like to beat the ATM charges there too which are more than at normal terminals.
Donald says
I believe you can do the same thing at most coin and laundry mats.
White Coat Investor says
This isn’t that big a deal. You just call the bank and ask them to lift the limit for the day. You haven’t lived until you’ve bought a car or a boat with a 6 inch tall stack of 20s you took out of an ATM that morning.
I tried the debit card cash advance for a refinancing and there was an issue (I can’t remember what). But there wasn’t any problem going outside to the ATM and pulling out $4K for closing costs apparently.
Rene says
If u have any money can u do a cash advance at ussa
Bucky says
I tried this today. I walked to the nearest bank and asked if they do cash advances on my Mastercard. They said, “Yes. Are you a customer at U.S. Bank?” “No.” “Sorry, you have to be a customer at U.S. Bank. Would you like to open an account today?” “No thanks.”
Bottom line, this isn’t very useful if you have to have an account with the brick and mortar. Can people list which major banks will do the cash advance without having an account with them?
Otherwise White Coat Investor’s suggestion to call your online bank to lift the ATM limit for one day is better (if it works).
Brian says
The banks will perform the transaction for non members for a small fee…usually 5 to 10 dollars. This seems high but it may be worth the hassle and still less than what fees you’ll encounter at an atm for multiple transactions.
Angela says
I’ve read where it’s actually illegal for banks to refuse non customers this service. That’s because even though they don’t have an agreement with you (the non customer) they do however have an agreement with your card issuer being Visa or Mastercard. They are required to service anyone carrying a card with that logo. So basically if they offer the service to customers they must offer it to everyone. They are allowed to charge a very small fee to non customers but that’s even capped, I think I read because of the Frank Dodd act.
Harry says
Bucky – The teller made that up. Try a different branch or talk to the manager. MasterCard rules require all issuers give cash advance to all cardholders. They can’t discriminate on whether you have an account with the bank or not. US Bank is a MasterCard issuer.
MasterCard Rules, bottom of page 303 in the PDF.
Rule 8.10.3 on page 189 says they can’t charge a fee for it.
Ezekiel says
I am not surprised about US Bank’s way of handling the above request. They seem to pride themselves on their expertise, but are currently at the center of couple class actions involving their way of handling overtime, and overdrafts.
May it be that the teller was upset for missing some overtime from his paycheck 0.O?
Cheers
Emma says
MasterCard rules page 303 can you please show me where it says they have to accept it?
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Emma says
I’m eager to try this at Wells Fargo haha… they make their own rules I guarantee they’ll just boil it down to the end-all-be-all rule that they have the right to deny service to anyone for any reason and then one rule above that would be that wells Fargo rules of prevail over the rules of a merchant card. If that doesn’t work they’ll pull the Patriot Act money laundering or various other acts that protect the bank from having to release any amount of cash to anyone even account holders. and I’d be happy to open a bank but the real problem here is ChexSystems. ChexSystems is so wonderful because back when my life was normal and I used US Bank, everything was going fine as I have a direct deposit and I only paid my electronic bills from this account but one day they decided to do what all banks do enter the transactions before the deposits no no no bad Bank we all know this now and US Bank had to credit my account for the mistake they made. Which they did immediately. I foolishly made the hasty decision of closing my u.s. bank account because that whole situation just upset me so once the fees were reversed and my balance was restored I closed my account at u.s. Bank; the worst mistake of my life. I went to open up a new bank account at a new bank, I was denied due to having “a negative mark” on my check systems report, the same thing happened at the next bank and the next Bank in every Bank since 2012, 5 long years ago. During those five years I became quite Savvy and learned how to dispute things that I didn’t like on my credit one day I got a hold of my ChexSystems report much to my surprise about 7 derogatory marks. Six of those marks were for attempting to open new checking accounts and being denied, wow cant imagine why, oh look, heres why; the very first negivate mark in ny report id related to US Bank, nope not for those Bank check fees they failed to reverse because they reverse those. It clearly shows I have a zero balance with US Bank but what if I done wrong I am labeled as “a account abuser”. More like an account abused as I was part of the last class action suit that they had against them. That doesn’t matter either see because it isn’t US Bank listing it that way , it’s ChexSystems! no problem right I’ll just simply write a letter explaining everything that’s actually happened dispute the information that they have and I’ll clear it right up. Nope, not a chance. And they’re so clever that they don’t even offer a reason, as a matter of fact they won’t even respond to my dispute. So, like any of normal American, I filed a complaint againt ChexSystems with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as well as the Federal Trade Commission. My go-to for money frustrations for the first time ever I was told why don’t you just dispute it this made me chuckle as we both know I already tried that. I responded with that information and Records stating what I had already been through, both responded with well they’re not a Bank fiduciary Nor a credit bureau so not regulated by us. No problem, I say, my bad; to which agency shall I refer? somebody must be in control of these controllers of all data controlling of all bank accounts? And to that end I still have no clue as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission do not know who regulates ChexSystems, I’d call it a mystery but instead I call it an opportunity and I invite anyone who has the desire to create their own unregulated ruler of data, to do so with ease of mind; imagine what you can do if you find an area not regulated and just do whatever you want, you know kind of like a dispensary until they made a bunch of rules. this is probably a great place for my rant to stop as I really don’t want to go to Guantanamo. good luck all. cash is King, or is it?
Harry Sit says
They changed the links. Not it’s in the Transaction Processing Rules (until they change it again). Section 2.2 on page 36:
“The Issuer of a debit Card Program or of a credit Card Program that provides cash access at
ATM Terminals and PIN-based In-Branch Terminals:
1. Must support POS Transaction authorizations and preauthorizations from a debit
Cardholder’s primary account, checking account, and savings account.
2. Must offer cash withdrawal and Merchandise Transactions from no account specified to
debit Cardholders and cash advances to credit Cardholders.”
Cardholders (capital C) is defined as the holder of a card issued by any bank in the network.
Michael says
Does Visa also require all participating banks to offer debit cash advances to cardholders?
If so, can you link to Visa’s rules where this is stated?
Thanks.
Harry Sit says
Michael – I didn’t find any in the Visa rules except for Visa Prepaid cards. Banks must offer manual cash disbursements for Visa Prepaid cards. In reality whether required or not, banks just do it because they earn a fee for doing it.
alex says
Was able to do this and withdraw 21,000 from my USAA account. Worked like a charm, no fees, no hassle, did it at a suntrust.
Mandy says
Do you have tohave money In the. Account
Harry Sit says
Yes.
James D. says
Hello all.
I find this thread and the comments very helpful. Please I would like to know if there are any banks where I can do this around Riverside, CA (92505).
Your help will be appreciated.
Thank you all.
Jim.
Harry Sit says
From the article: “You walk into a bank, any bank or credit union; you don’t need an account there.” Try it.
Abby says
Thanks so much! I have been exclusively online banking for over a year now, and for the first time I need a large amount of cash. I’m having a new air conditioner unit installed and many small contractors don’t take credit or debit cards. I’m going to try it using my MasterCard debit card at a Fifth Third bank, which is a MasterCard issuer. I will post back if it works.
Abby says
No luck. I went to a First Federal; they said no, that they don’t do cash advances. If I had been inside, I would have pushed the issue, but this was at a location that only had a drive-through teller. I would have stopped at another bank, but they weren’t open til 9. I was trying to get my running around done around 8am before heading into work.
I called my bank (TIAA DIRECT) and asked them to raise the $500 ATM withdrawal limit. They said they couldn’t do that.
By this time it was 9, and I called the other bank (Fifth Third) that I know is a MasterCard issuer. They said that they would do a cash advance, so I left work and drove down the street to the branch, and told them I needed a cash advance for $1900. She tried that, and told me it exceeded the card limit. Then we tried $1500 and $1000 with the same result. At this point she told me she could only make three attempts. So that was a bust. I went outside and withdrew $500 from the ATM figuring it was better than nothing.
I called back my bank and at this point I’m really irritated because I have thousands of dollars in their institution and there is no apparent way for me to get my hands on just $1900. The rep even told me that the cash advance should have been like $3k, and he was pretty useless when it came to explaining why it hadn’t worked. He suggested that I could at least withdraw another $500 from my savings account, which I have never tried before. It didn’t work. I went to an ATM and chose “Savings” instead of “Checking”, but it came up as an “invalid transaction”.
This is almost a deal breaker for me and I am SO mad today. I spent a good 2 hours of my day trying to figure out how to get my money, and everything failed. I might have to reconsider my decision to use an online bank.
Harry Sit says
Sorry to hear your trouble. I also had a decline once. It just worked on a different day at the same bank branch with the same card.
Thalia says
I want to try this.
All I need to do is have an active debit card and I can go in to a bank and ask for a cash advance?
Or do I need an online bank account also?
Harry Sit says
Yes. If your bank has a branch near you, you obviously can just go to your own bank for this. Online banks don’t have branches. So this is a solution for that, but it works for any bank, not just online banks.
Tami says
Will this work on SSI debit card
Thalia says
So, basically I can walk into any bank or credit union regardless of if I have an account with them or not, ask for a cash advance on my visa debit card and they’ll give me cash as long as I have my ID? No fees, no questions no nothing?
Is there a limit on how much I can get? o.o
Harry Sit says
Yes, but try it with a small amount like $100 first. Your debit card usually has a daily purchase limit. This will go by that limit.
Brian says
There is sometimes a fee for non members depends on the bank. Ask the teller. I do this every month for my rent off my PayPal debit
Harry Sit says
Brian – The bank is not supposed to charge you a fee whether you have an account there or not. If one bank charges, you just go to a different one. I’ve done it at several different banks. None charged a fee.
Thalia says
This may be a stupid question, but do we have the funds in our account in order to do this? Like the daily purchase limit on my visa debit card is $3000 and $600 ATM if not should there a certain amount on my card
In order to do this?
Thalia says
Sorry, I meant to say do we have to have the funds available in our accounts.
Harry Sit says
Of course you need to have at least 100% of the amount you are withdrawing in your account, just like when you use your debit card to buy a TV at a store. Otherwise you will either get declined or charged an overdraft fee.
Stapsy says
Please will this work if the bank that issued the MasterCard is a foreign bank located outside the US?
Thanks
Harry Sit says
It will work. Any fees will come from the issuing bank, not the bank that gives you cash. Try a small amount first.
Rachel says
I just used this today at a TCF Bank and it worked like a charm.
Sam Seattle says
OMG, I should have done this when paying a small contractor on my last home improvement project. It would have been a lot better than getting stacks of $20 bills from an ATM on 2 separate days. Thanks for the tip, Harry. Great post.
Trish says
Will this work with a Visa or MasterCard Gift card that’s also a debit card (with money loaded into it?)
Harry Sit says
Gift cards may not work. The issuer may also charge a fee if it works. Check the terms on your gift cards.
Trung says
May I have a question? I’m Vietnamese and I want to buy a small house or condo in California. But my country doesn’t let its people bring too much money to foreign country, So could I do as you say in previous post? Which bank should l deposit and withdraw?
Thanks in advance.
tim says
Ok say I have 500$ on my debit card and I go do a cash advance do they take the money right out of my account right then or do it take a while …need to no asap
Harry Sit says
Same as when you use your debit card to buy something. The money will be held, not available for other purchases, and then deducted out of your account the next day.
Jennifer says
I have a online account and had to cancel my card.It will take 2 weeks to get my new card and need money from my account before then. The rep told me I could go into any bank and give my routing and account number to withdrawl funds from online account. Has anyone done this before? Is it that simple?
Charles says
Can I withdraw my funds from a brick and mortar bank account I have in another state while I’m visiting another state? Without a debit card?
Nate says
So I tried this out today and got denied twice, even after calling my bank and confirming my attempted cash advance was less than my daily purchase limit. What my bank rep told me is that cash advances are treated as ATM withdrawals ($1,000 limit) and that they have no way of ringing up a cash advance as a “point of sale” type purchase that would fall under my bigger purchase limit ($5,000). Anyone know a way around this?
Harry Sit says
Nate – Did you have some cushion in your checking account above the cash advance amount requested? I just found out a bank automatically put extra $50 on hold until the following business day. If I didn’t have at least the amount I requested plus $50 in the account, the request would get declined. I’m not sure if all banks do this or if they all hold extra $50.
Paul says
I closed my bank account in 1981 and have lived cash only since. If I can’t pay cash for services, I walk away even richer! Suck that banks!
Integr8er says
My question is if you all don’t have brick and mortar accounts then those banks may all close up, then how do you get cash? I read today that the expectation is that in ten years B&M banks will all be gone and online will be the only way, so then what?
Bank local support the people in your community and keep CASH. if you think all electronic money is good I hope you live to see where that gets you.
Paul says
I have a second passport and home. I already moved a lot of cash outside the US. I planned for the financial crisis that should hit within the next two years back in 1991. You can believe the government, corporation and financial institutions lies but I never have. Let’s see how you fare in several years. Cash=FREEDOM not the Constitution or Bill of Rights. BTW, my planning was done legally. Well… Enjoy the Major Depression with Hyper-Inflation, it should only last 30-50 years.
Sarah says
I’d like to withdraw 3,000 from my joint savings account. Are there any issues I can expect with this? Should I call ahead?
Harry Sit says
A debit card is usually only attached to your checking account, not your savings account. If you use this debit card to buy something at the grocery store, does the money come out of your joint savings account? If not, transfer the money to your checking account first.
Ethan Deutsch says
So basically in order to do this cash advance, you need to have the funds that you want to take out in your account. And you are taking money from your account that would be higher than an ATM will give you, also without the fees or a significant decrease in fees. Is that basically what you’re saying? Because I have a $10,000 spending limit per day, but I haven’t had $10,000 in my account for quite some time
Ethan Deutsch says
Please reply as soon as possible, because if there’s a way I can do this it would help out tremendously right now, funds are kind of tight seeing as how I just bought my house Monday
Pl12334 says
I want to know if i can withdrawl a cash advance without the fees in my account i need a real cash advance finds wont be avaliable until next payday
Crai says
Ok, so I have BofA, $10000 purchase limit and $1500 ATM limit(24hr).. two questions:
1. Does it work with them? And if so I can do this at any bank or union?
2. Do they have daily increase limit? Or can you increase that limit for a week? Or a few days?
Harry Sit says
If you have a B of A branch close by you don’t need this. Just go to the branch and withdraw there. If you are not near a B of A branch, just try it at any bank or credit union. Obviously you need $10,000 in your B of A checking account if you want to withdraw $10,000.
InternetStranger says
This has been a very useful post. Thanks! Over the past year, I have successfully taken cash advances at two different megabanks using a visa debit card for my cash management account.
At the first bank (Chase), I was an account holder so I don’t know how they will treat non-account holders.
I did not have an account at the second bank (Wells Fargo). At first, the teller had no idea how to do it. She asked a more experienced teller to help and I walked out with a nice stack of $100s.
Tomasnavarro says
How can I extract funds from an online bank account that is holding my trading profits and refusing withdraw, can someone help extract these funds on commission, thx
Jimmy says
How do I get on if I’m in UK . And my bank is in USA.
My bank want me to come sign forms to release my money .how can I went im In UK …
Can any one help .with some info.
Mike says
My request for 2k from a Charles Schwab account was declined but 1k worked
Mike says
Followup: I called Charles Schwab and asked how to withdraw large amounts of money and they said they can increase the limit temporarily.
mark says
I was able to do this successfully today using my USAA Visa “debit” card. Before I went to the bank, I used the USAA web site to raise my card limit for cash advances (temporary 2-day increase). I then went to a local bank where I have an account. They knew what I wanted to do, but did not have the required machine to process it. Fortunately, the credit union across the street did. Transaction went off without a hitch. Just had to present my license as ID. The debit came through right away.
Dover says
Does this work using one of the tellers in a casino?
Grace says
I like to do yahoo
Dan says
Walked into Chase Bank today, and withdrew $6,200 on my debit from USAA. The only question asked was the address associated with the card.
Lee says
I’ve had USAA for over 25 years and have always been able to raise my daily limit to withdraw money this way or at the ATM. What amazes me is how many responses to the article asking if one can withdraw the limit whether they have the funds or not…it’s your money, not free money the article is telling you how to get.
Noteworthy is that ATMs have a limited amount of dispensable cash, where the walk in banks really do not, another reason they should honor the advance under the MC/V relationship.
Z says
well the whole point of having to use a bank to withdrawal money from thee inside n not the ATM from my online acct that I can’t get into n my money is just sitting while being subjected to thieving talons …. my card is locked. would my presence of rightfully going into an ank asking the teller for a withdrawl from my account, I’m not a customer n yes here’s my debit card my acct number n routing number n of course my id card. oh n the card is locked. teehee. Is this gunna work? Guess I’ll be back for the answer.