Can You Get Cash Back From a Credit Card? Answered

Short Answer

Most credit card issuers do not allow cash back at the register. Discover is the exception, with its “cash over” feature; you can get cash back with a Discover credit card at a variety of participating retailers for no additional fee. For more information on how to get cash back from a credit card, see below.

Can You Get Cash Back From a Credit Card?

Most credit cards do not allow cash back at the register. We contacted major credit card companies, including American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa, to determine their cash back policies. Only Discover’s “cash over” feature allows you to get cash back on your in-store purchases at participating retailers, customer service representatives said.

To get cash back from other credit cards, you can usually make cash withdrawals at an ATM or request a cash advance and pay the associated fees and interest (as previously reported). However, the only credit card issuer with a true cash back option for shopping at stores is Discover.

How To Use Discover’s Cash Over Feature

At the checkout station of a participating retailer — either a cashiered lane or self-checkout — your Discover card will offer cash back amount choices, just like a debit card does. Keep in mind that Discover only allows cash over withdrawals to total $120 in a 24-hour period. Some stores will also have additional limits on how much cash customers can request; for example, Walmart limits cash back to $100 per transaction.

Discover does not charge a fee for cash over withdrawals, but some individual stores do charge a small fee for cash-back transactions.

Participating Retailers

Discover’s cash over feature only works at participating retailers; Discover provides the complete list of cash over participating retailers, including:

Albertsons
Dollar General (See our research on Dollar General’s cash back policy.)
Fred Meyer
Giant Eagle
Jewel-Osco
Kroger (See our research on cash back at Kroger.)
Meijer
Ralphs
Safeway (See our research on Safeway’s cash back policy.)
Sam’s Club
ShopRite
Vons
Walmart

While the cash back amount counts toward your total purchase and appears in your credit card balance, note that you cannot earn rewards for cash back transactions. Your regular purchase APR applies, but if you pay off your balance by the due date, you won’t pay interest.