Credit Cards and You: Service Fees on Credit Card Transactions

Fees for purchases of wire transfers, money orders, bets, lottery tickets and casino gaming chips

You will also have to pay charges or fees for some other types of transactions that are like cash advances. These are sometimes called "cash-like transactions", "cash-equivalent transactions" or "quasi-cash transactions". These include wire transfers, money orders, travellers' cheques and gaming transactions (including betting, off-track betting, racetrack wagers, casino gaming chips and lottery tickets).

The fee for a cash-like transaction can be a fixed amount, or a percentage of the amount of the purchase. Some credit card issuers treat cash-like transactions in the same way as purchases, while others treat them like cash advances. Depending on how your credit card issuer views these transactions, you may have to pay interest from the date of the purchase until the date you pay the balance in full. If you are not sure whether a particular transaction will be treated as a cash advance or as a purchase, contact your credit card issuer.