pay with credit card, ask for extra cash?

I know my credit card is working in convenient stores such as lawson and 7/11 (because i'm in Japan as we speak). When i'm in europe and in need for extra cash i just ask the cashier for a little bit of extra cash when i pay with my credit card. Now here in Japan, I've tried to explain it in so many ways but the people keep starring at me like i'm from another planet. How do i ask for extra cash when i pay with the credit card in Japanese? It's just because i'm a cheap ass that doesn't want to pay extra for taking out money at an ATM ;-)

Well, we don't have that system in Japan, that's why people stared back at you :)

You can't withdraw any cash as you use credit cards. The service is not valid in Japan.

It isn't just Japan. You could never do this in the USA either. If one could do this, one could float funds and make money. Also, the store has to pay one or more percent of the total charge to the credit card company, so they would be losing money on the transaction. Think about it.

Dale

Thanks a lot, now i know that in Japan, it's not a custom to ask money while you pay with credit cards.

To Oenophile Angler: in Europe you can only ask some extra cash if you buy something (that's what my question was about) the transaction cost for the shop owner stays the same and that's why they don't make a problem about it. some of my friends who visited the US, said to me that they asked for money that way in the US, buying some small stuff and asking for less then 100 $ extra and it was not a problem at all. But thank you anyway for your answer :)

It isn't just Japan. You could never do this in the USA either.

I used to do this very often while I was living in the US (California, to be precise). When paying for my groceries at the local Target, the credit card terminal asked "do you want cash back?" And would give me the desired amount in cash, charged on my card. Asking for $4 was my preferred way of obtaining $1 bills to use on the campus vending machines.

No one can "buy" cash from a store, if that's what your question is. I'm surprised you can do that in Europe. Next time I travel there I should remember that.

But you can ask for "small change" while buying merchandise with credit card, if that's what you mean.

For example, let's say you have a 10000 yen bill in your wallet but don't have any coins. You can take a 100 yen chocolate bar from the shelf at a convenience store, take it to the cashier and present your credit card and say "card de haraimasu" (I will pay by card).

The store clerk will take your card, the 100 yen will be billed to your credit card company, and you get your chocolate bar. Then you can present your 10000 bill to the same clerk and say "ryou-ga-e shite kure masuka?" (Could you exchange this to smaller cash?) You can also say something like "hyaku-en dama o ni-mai hoshiin desu." (I need two 100 yen coins), so that the clerk doesn't have to ask something like "zenbu sen-en satsu de iidesuka?" (all in 1000 yen bills?)

Some supermarkets have signs saying they don't do exchange, but often in convenience stores where there are less customers, they will do it for you as long as it's not a bulk amount.

But I don't think there is much to spend at convenience stores, so I don't really see the point at insisting on using your credit card. I would just hand the bill to buy some gum and get my change back.

Uco-san,

This is something available in some countries - you present your credit card for a, let's say, 50$ purchase, and ask for some cash, let's say, $20, at the same time. So you end up with a payment for $70 on your credit card, and you receive $20 in cash. You can practically "withdraw" cash at point-of-sale, not at ATM.

This is known in the US (as far as I know), and just like you can write a personal check for a grocery bill, and write a higher amount than the grocery bill, and get some cash too. (I've experienced both in the US.)

Unknown practice in Japan where inter-bank domestic ATM system has taken root faster than any personal check or "plastic" card payment systems.

In Japan is it often described as "cash out" system, available as a feature on debit cards in US/some European countries.

Thanks so much, AK. So you can obtain cash without having to look for a proper ATM or an exchange booth, right? I didn't know that. And I do think it's convenient, because often in foreign countries that you're not used to, you end up looking all over town for a machine only to find out that your card doesn't work there and you'd have no one to ask questions to.

Oh yeah, so I do see the point. You can talk to someone without having to figure out a foreign machine in the middle of the night.

But then, I notice that if the OP has been going to convenience stores here for a while, all he has to do is to learn the way to use the convenience store ATMs that allows him to withdraw cash with his card, even in the middle of the night. Convenience stores here are convenient only because you can do everything in that tiny premises, but you still have to go to the cashier, the ATM machine, the copy machine and the mail box separately. Phew...

wow, Japan do not offer cash withdraw at crash register. I'm kind of shock but not really. Japan is mostly a cash base country. I use to be a cashier depending, on the store you can do anything from a cash register, if i recall you can even deposit money into your account too. you can also refill your pre-paid credit card at the cash register. AK explain it correctly. the only problem with cash withdraw at the cash register is your limited to the amount you can take out.

7/11 and Family Market, are big stores in Japan maybe type those store. you can try there 7/11 here in the US, a few of them and they allow cash withdraw from cash register.

good luck

AK
I think it was a very old style of paper base bank system in US. according to my memory, you need to register your personal check before you use it at a supermarket. at that time, while wire-transfer has been very common in Japan, some of US people did not trust wire-transfer, and they preferred to get the check by hand. they went to their bank to deposit the check even in working time. I deposited it on ATM machine for a few months during lunch time and finally gave up to change to wire-transfer. that was 30 years ago at a modern large US city.

For debit cards, the cashout feature when making a purchase is allowed by most card issuers.

For credit cards, I believe that only Discover Card allowed it in the US. For other issuers, cash advances are a cash cow. Not only do they usually charge a higher interest rate, but the interest begins from the date of withdrawal whereas interest on purchases are charged from the statement date. Also, while you can avoid paying interest on purchases by paying your balance in full, you can't avoid interest charges on cash advances.

They have this sort of features in hong kong using EPS, a sort of charge card, but not for credit card, and you can only take 100-500 HKD.

Not all establishmentin hong kong provide this service, and japan does not provide it, you need to use the ATM for cash withdrawn.

It's not a widespread practice in the UK, but a lot of (perhaps most) supermarkets offer "cash back" when you make a purchase (i.e. you can make a normal purchase - which might just be something really small - and then you ask for e.g. £50 - which the cashier charges to your card and then gives you the cash).

This is good business for supermarkets, as it gets people to go in and make a purchase. It also reduces their cash holdings (they don't want to hold cash - it's inconvenient compared to electronic payments).

I've also seen cash back on offer in a few pubs in rural locations in the UK (where there's no nearby bank or ATM).

This happens everywhere in Australia, but if I recall correctly, you have to make a purchase, and it needs to be an ATM card.

So you can go into a supermarket, buy $5 worth of goods and also ask for "cash out", say $20, $100, $200, etc.
It's called EFTpos.

What Joeri, the original poster, doesn't understand is that the cash advance he gets with his credit card may likely cost him more than if was going to an ATM.

I find hard to believe that the grocery or convenience store in the USA will give him extra $ without charging him a fee.

Can you guys explain that?

Dear all,

Thanks a lot for all the response. But i'm almost leaving Japan and found a better way to do this... We went out for dinner with a group of people from time to time and then i payed with my credit card and the payed to me in cash. To another monkey: my bank explained to me a couple of times that withdrawing cash with the credit card costs more on an ATM then if you ask cash back to the cashier. I've never heard about being charged extra just for asking a cash back. Like i told before, the shop already pays the credit card company for the usage of the system no matter how much the amount of payment

@The other monkey

In some countries including Hong Kong, you are able to withdrawn cash at different shops using a atm card, or some will call it cash card, there is no charge to buy product, and cash back will be added on the bill as a item (the amount you want to withdrawn), but you have to have money in your account to use it.

So there is no charge for the service, only large shops or supermarket provide this service as the cashier must have alot of money in the till register if they are to get through the whole day.

the shop already pays the credit card company for the usage of the system no matter how much the amount of payment

Not quite true, the shop pays the credit card company a percentage of the entire transaction.

What Joeri, the original poster, doesn't understand is that the cash advance he gets with his credit card may likely cost him more than if was going to an ATM.

It depends on the card. Some cards treat cash back as part of the purchase in which case there may not be any large cash advance fees.

I find hard to believe that the grocery or convenience store in the USA will give him extra $ without charging him a fee.

Do you live in the US? It's quite a ubiquitous service at grocery and convenience stores that take cards in the first place.

the shop already pays the credit card company for the usage of the system no matter how much the amount of payment
Not quite true, the shop pays the credit card company a percentage of the entire transaction.

Depends on the particular shop's agreement with the different credit card companies. Some pay a percentage, some pay a per transaction fee, some pay both.