Credit Card transcation turned into Cash Advance, Why?

[tantris77]

I recently made a PayPal purchase at a well-known international merchant for clothing using a credit card associated with my PayPal account.  The credit purchase turned into a cash advance and I only found out a few days later when I happened to check my credit card account.  There was no indication of this during check out.  Does anybody know why that happened and under what circumstances this might happen?  I want to watch out for it in the future since I have to be responsible for a hefty transaction fee.  Thanx.

[tantris77]

Any help from anybody?

[manhong888]

I had the same experience recently. my credit card issuer, Chase, offered explanation "The Merchant is categorized as a Financial Institution - Merchandise and Services. The option to change categorization is unavailable. It dependents upon the merchant how he categorizes the charge." If you purchase from AliExpress, it submits charges using AliPay Singapore E-Commerce and categorizes the charge as cash advance. I suspect that they categorize as cash advance to avoid the 3-4% transaction fee charged by Visa/Master Card.  Your only option is to get your bank to waive the fee or contact AliExpress to reimburse your fee.

[1kjp1]

I have been told this issue has been resolved.