I remember being able to pay via Paypal before (months ago) with a different credit card, and I didn't have any transaction charged as a cash advance. There was no warning at all from Aliexpress' part. The rep told me that the transaction was considered a cash advance so I won't get points :( I checked my account and saw the transaction fee and called Chase immediately. It's so frustrating and disheartening as I made my Christmas shopping for family and friends so I can meet the sign up bonus of my card. Thanks, hopefully I have provided some useful PSA. I am interested to know if anyone has seen this mentioned anywhere at the Aliexpress website. Just don’t use a credit card through PayPal at Aliexpress. Or if the money is paid through your checking account connected with PayPal account, that might be fine as well but I don’t know for sure.

I would guess that if you have money in your PayPal account and pay the seller directly from the account, that would be okay.

Please know that quasi cash / cash advances are subject to the following terms: -Cash advances do not have an interest-free period and interest charges accrue daily. Money transfers, money order purchases, gambling transactions, and other transactions where cash is accessed will be classified as quasi cash transactions. A quasi cash transaction is one that is similar to a cash advance. We charge a cash advance fee when you make cash-like transactions, such as withdrawing money with your credit card or buying foreign currency. The above charge is listed as a quasi cash transaction. Let me share the following details re the transaction in question: - Merchant name: ALIPAYSINGA AL - Merchant type: Financial Institutions. Let me share that the category is chosen by the merchant based upon its primary business it is not chosen by us. I have included the response from my credit card company below: If you paid via a credit card from your PayPal account, that transaction goes to an entity called “Alipaysinga.” “Alipaysinga” is categorized as a financial institution, and as such, the transaction turns into cash advance. The fact is that if you pay using a credit card, the company listed on the credit card statement is “aliexpress” and it’s a credit transaction. Not much help there but they are correct, it appears not their problem. After trying unsuccessfully twice to get an answer from PayPal via messages from my account (I also tried calling a few times but a 30 or more minutes wait is way too long), they finally responded that I should contact my credit card company. I opened a dispute ticket and PayPal responded that this is not a billing issue and closed the case. What’s more discouraging is that PayPal is no help either. Contacting the seller was no help, as they evaded giving a straight answer (but that is expected as I never have a fair resolution when there is a problem). Instead of the standard process where the merchants get paid by CREDIT, I found out a few days later (I just happened to check my account for some other reason, or else I wouldn’t have known it until the statement is ready) that the merchant had, without my consent or had any notification on the payment page, made a CASH ADVANCE on my credit card instead! This triggered a $10 transaction fee on a purchase of about $14. I have credit cards associated with PayPal and I picked a credit card to use. This might be common knowledge to frequent buyers but it’s not universally known and I paid the price.Īnyhoo, here’s the deal.

Chalk this up, for myself, as a lesson learned.

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