PSA: Keep an Eye on Your Gift Card Purchase Transactions, WW Gift Card Paid by CBA via PayPal Charged as Cash Advance

bamzero on 28/10/2023 - 15:03
Last edited 18/11/2023 - 02:50 by 1 other user

Yeh so purchased a Woolies gift card via their own site the other day, paid using my CBA credit card via Paypal as I always do and the CBA app pops up a message saying this is a cash advance, fees, interest etc etc.. Tap the notification and can't see any more info, transaction still pending so not sure what's going on.

Anyway, spoke to CBA. Since was still pending they couldn't tell much either but say me nothing has changed and no reason why it should have been charged as a cash advance unless it was the merchant or Paypal.

Transaction has now cleared and sure enough, there is a cash advance fee charged and I guess I'll see interest charges when the statement closes. They did say they'll refund me the fees for this one but just putting it out there in case anyone else gets hit with it.

Just don't know what will happen next time, going to have to go through the whole thing again?

Speaking to CBA, enabling gambling lock on the credit card should block cash advances. Enabled on mine now but haven't tried it again yet.

Financial Gift Card

Comments

  • Muzeeb on 28/10/2023 - 15:06
    +1

    @mapax

    • bamzero on 28/10/2023 - 15:24

      They had same thing happen?

      • Muzeeb on 28/10/2023 - 15:47

        probably

      • mapax on 28/10/2023 - 15:57

        Nah, I’m just a meme…

    • mapax on 28/10/2023 - 15:56
      +4

      ADAGCHS

      • bamzero on 28/10/2023 - 16:22

        OK got it :D

  • Aureus on 28/10/2023 - 15:57
    +2

    Government needs to step in and force these scammers banks to allow you to turn off the cash advance option. Current system is so ridiculous.

    • bamzero on 28/10/2023 - 15:59

      Was hoping I could do that but only the option to block ATM cash advances.

  • MeesusEff on 28/10/2023 - 16:19
    +1

    CBA used to charge cash advance fees when I used to swipe credit (before tap and go) to pay for lotto tickets, as it's considered 'gambling'. Ridiculous, I was using debit for years after til I realised it's just CBA. That was 10 years ago so maybe it's not doing that anymore

    • bamzero on 28/10/2023 - 16:39

      If you transfer funds to your online lotto account it's considered a cash advance which I can understand, but buying tickets at the newsagent goes through as a normal transaction (well has done for me recently, though I guess it depends how the newsagent puts it through. Still a possibility it could be put through separately as a transaction identifiable as gambling)

      • MeesusEff on 28/10/2023 - 17:44

        yeah, it was an instore transaction. i didnt know what it was for until i realised that it was charged everytime my husband bought a lotto ticket.

        • omguleh on 29/10/2023 - 16:31
          +1

          If they registered their terminal as a lottery agent then the banks will use a different retailer code and everyone gets slugged for the cash advance.

          Need to register as a newsagency or gift store to get around it.

          I’ve managed a few Tattslotto stores plus owned my own. When setting up the terminal the banks don’t tell you the code they will register you with. Spent many hours on the phone trying to figure this out until I got an awesome rep who knew about it and explained it.

  • BrunoBear on 29/10/2023 - 01:48

    I've bought many different GCs with CBA credit card (ultimate awards) via PayPal and never got charged a cash advance. Wonder why it's different for woolworths?

    • bamzero on 29/10/2023 - 15:58
      +1

      Yeh, I don't really know why. I've purchased the exact same way many many times before and has never been a cash advance. Even the CSR i talked to at Commbank was surprised and couldn't understand why it should have done so.

  • CW66WC on 30/10/2023 - 21:26
    +1

    Purchased a number of Woolworths gift cards over the last few months with CBA credit card via Paypal - latest transaction on 27 October triggered a cash advance notification, whereas previous transactions up to 21 October did not.

    • impoze on 30/10/2023 - 22:12

      good to know for my next recharge.

    • bamzero on 30/10/2023 - 23:37
      +1

      Seems reminicent of when Aliexpress starting accepting Paypal and some cards were getting charged cash advance fees. I'm just not sure who in the chain is to blame here, Woolies, Paypal or CBA.

      I noticed the cash advance purchase has a receipt number whereas the previous purchases don't. I guess thats because funds were transferred rather than it being a purchase. Still got categorised as Groceries in the CBA app though.

    • nitsy on 11/11/2023 - 08:52

      My WW gift card purchased by CBA ultimate award credit card via PayPal on 05/11 triggered cash advance charge. CBA lady said the rule to charge cash advance for purchasing ANY gift card is always there, even never being charged before for me, but seems somehow it starts happening now.

  • bamzero on 02/11/2023 - 13:29
    +1

    Have since purchased another but used card directly and no cash advance fee, so I don't know if it was Paypal or the issue was fixed since then anyway.

    • impoze on 02/11/2023 - 14:15

      Good to know, thanks

      Did you get refunded on the paypal ones?

      • bamzero on 02/11/2023 - 14:17
        +1

        Yeh they had already said they'd refund when I spoke to them at the pending stage and refund for cash advance fee came through already. Statement hasn't closed yet though so I assume there will be interest charges on that as well which I'll have to see if they auto refund or not.

    • bamzero on 02/11/2023 - 22:01
      +1

      Was that recently as in after 27/10 as mentioned by CW66WC? As I said above I purchased another today on CBA but didn't use Paypal this time which was ok, still unsure if Paypal will trigger it again.

  • RinseandRepeat on 11/11/2023 - 16:42

    I have a similar experience to CW66WC and I just joined so I could comment on this.

    I buy a lot of gift cards from Enterainment Book and others for at least 5 years and have never been charged cash advance fees until now. Every single transaction I’ve via Paypal since Oct 24th has been charged that fee. The latest one I have with no fee is Oct 19. All the transactions via Paypal are linked to a CBA Smart Awards credit card. Like CW they just told me “nothings changed” and kept referring back to their cash advance policy. They would only reverse one transaction.

    I have done one direct to card transaction via Entertainment book and that one does not have this fee. So it certainly seema to me that they are charging this now on all Paypal payments and I’d guess that would be for anything you buy not just gift cards. I do buy stuff on Ebay a lot and often have used PayPal in the past but don’t anymore. Watch out for everything you might use it for.

    • Neoika on 11/11/2023 - 20:02

      It made your account.

  • g1a2r3r4y5 on 17/11/2023 - 00:05

    Encountered a cash advance fee issue when purchasing a WW gift card with my CBA credit card via PayPal. A direct CBA credit card transaction on WW incurred no fee, but similar issues with CBA and PayPal for different gift cards reported here is an issue. Seeking clarity on whether this is specific to CBA and PayPal or impacts other banks' credit cards through PayPal (ANZ, NAB, Westpac, etc.) for gift card transactions resulting in cash advance fees. Filed a complaint with CBA to ascertain fault and determine if it's a genuine cash advance fee. Awaiting CBA's response by next Friday. CBA customer service attributes the issue to merchants' alleged code changes. Will update upon receiving a response or appreciate insights from others.

    • bamzero on 17/11/2023 - 01:10

      That was recently? Been wondering if still ongoing as haven't been game to try again via PP. Haven't used with any other cards via PP so can't help there.

      Have since use CBA via PP at Prezzee though without cash advance fees (also directly at Special) but none of these are Woolies cards.

      Will have to speak to CBA again since my statement closed and they refunded cash advance fee but not the interest. Hopefully they can offer some more info now that the transaction has cleared.

      I did enable gambling lock on the card though. It says:

      Applies to most online, in-person and over-the-phone gambling transactions, or purchases identified as gambling from merchant information.
      Includes cash advances and cash transactions including ATM, over-the-counter and cash transfers from your account.

      No idea if would help in this case since I don't know how the transaction being classified but I don't think it's gambling. I don't use it for that anyway so no harm enabling. I just wish there was a global cash advance lock.

      • g1a2r3r4y5 on 20/11/2023 - 08:20

        Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. The transactions were on the 6 and 11 of November respectively. CBA has sent me an email on Friday 17 November that they are investigating the issue and will update me during the investigation. I will let this forum know once I have a formal response.

  • bamzero on 17/11/2023 - 14:54

    After speaking to CBA again, still no idea what's changed but I asked about blocking all cash advances. I was told that with gambling block enabled it would reject all cash advances via credit card. I'm not sure if I'm game to try with PP again yet though :)

  • Jeffneo on 17/11/2023 - 18:15

    Yes I got stung by same scheme - WW Gift Cards via Paypal. CBA believes that Woolworths have changed their MCC (merch code) - i can see previous Gift Cards came up as "Computer network & IT services" lol. As per bamzero CBA credit charges back, but this does not fix the ongoing issue. I have complained to Woolies, but lets see. These cards are NOT cash, can only be used in there network with no cash refunds.

    My only other option is to Paypal connect directly to a CBA account to pay, but sounds a little risky.

    • bamzero on 17/11/2023 - 18:58

      Mine have always been categorised in the app as Groceries but I may have set it to always use that years ago, can't remember. The merchant categories are much more than we can see in the app anyway and if it was WW changing MCC then when I have bought directly with credit card after it should have been the same.

      I think it's PayPal, wouldn't be the first time (ie AliExpress when they started accepting PayPal and some cards got hit with cash advances.)

  • fredblogs on 18/11/2023 - 01:03

    Me too. Bought a $500 gift card using CBA mastercard via Paypal for $480. Got charged $14.40 cash advance fee and $3.76 interest. Done this many times before and this is the first time I've had these charges.

    Sigh, guess I have to call CBA to fix this.

  • Claire Naps on 02/12/2023 - 19:05

    I saw the same on my statement yesterday. I too purchased a woolworths giftcard via paypal. I queried it and initially I was told that gift cards are treated as cash advances. I pointed out 2 prior woolworths giftcard purchases in the past 12 months where not treated as cash advances. I also made a bit of a hoo ha about my call having been transferred to a virtual assistant and then not getting a response til the next day. They ended up refunding the cash advance fee and interest and also 50% of my annual card fee which was totally unexpected but a nice bonus which on reflection might have been because of my Commsec One status. Will have to remember to pay direct rather than with paypal.

    • bamzero on 02/12/2023 - 19:11

      Pretty crappy that it's still happening when it's obviously not a cash advance and it's a PayPal problem, surely they've had enough complaints by now to do something about it.

      On another subject, gonna have to get an international transaction fee refunded for my eBay plus despite having all international locked on the card

      • Claire Naps on 02/12/2023 - 19:26

        It's pretty bad that you get more information by looking online than you do from contacting commbank directly. Thankfully I still receive paper statements (despite them continually pestering me to get online statements), so I look over the transactions. I imagine lots of people have got these fees and haven't noticed. My fee + interest was over $10. Times that that by however many people are affected and it's an absolute windfall for commbank. I got that ebay plus international fee too but I don't have international locked.

        • CW66WC on 02/12/2023 - 20:28

          If my calculations on the interest charged on the cash advance are correct, the previous statement's balance must be paid off completely before you can pay off the cash advance balance. The double whammy is you lose your credit card's interest-free period.

          • Claire Naps on 02/12/2023 - 21:19

            @CW66WC: yes you are right. Even though they've said they'll reimburse for the cash advance fee and interest, I don't know whether there'll be any flow on effects to next month's statement and I'll get charged partial interest next month. As a precaution I've paid off my current statement 2 weeks early plus all the transactions to date that will appear on my next statement plus an extra $500 buffer for any purchases I make in the next couple of weeks.

  • glitch23 on 09/12/2023 - 12:26

    Just checked my Bankwest Credit card today and noticed Cash Advance Interest fees from Oct 24th onwards.
    After contacting Bankwest I mentioned we have been buying these gift cards for over 10 years… asked what has changed and all they said was merchant updated the category on their side which they have no control over.

    I did start using PayPal for all my credit card payments (as another layer of protection and to prevent handing out credit card details) which include paying for Gift Cards.
    After reading this thread it really looks like the issue is with PayPal.

    I did ask about just outright blocking all cash advances but they said they don't have that option available.

    Emailed a complaint into [email protected]

  • a1234my on 22/12/2023 - 07:36

    NAB have gift card list as cash advance in their t&c too.

    Other cash advance examples include:

    • tcash out from your credit card account at an ATM, or over the counter
    • tmoney transferred out of your credit card and into another account
    • tusing your credit card for gambling
    • tbills paid with your credit card over the counter at another bank or at a post office (online bill payments are usually okay, but you should check with your biller first)
    • traveller’s cheques or gift cards.
  • bamzero on 23/02/2024 - 13:59
    +1

    Just to update on this, was having trouble purchasing via credit card (think the netbank code popup wasn't loading properly) so thought maybe time to test Paypal again, see if the cash advance block would actually work if nothing had changed.

    Can report that was able to purchase via Paypal and it didn't get processed as a cash advance on CBA card.

    • glitch23 on 23/02/2024 - 15:18

      I stopped using Paypal for gift cards after I started getting the cash advance fees.

      I am continuing to buy them using my Bankwest credit card directly from Woolworths and also via HCF Lifestyle Rewards. They are all going through OK without cash advance fees. Don't think I'll go back to using Paypal….

      • bamzero on 23/02/2024 - 15:45

        Was doing the same but only direct from Woolies, haven't the problem anywhere else.

        I hadn't actually used the Woolies portal for a while as had been getting Prezzees via the NAB deal (but still paying by credit card via PayPal on there without cash advance fees).

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