Gold prices reached over $5,000 per ounce earlier this year. Though it’s dropped a bit since, it’s still significantly higher than the average price in 2025. In times of economic turmoil, investors looking for more stable assets often turn to precious metals, which is why buying gold is all the rage right now for some people.
While there are different ways to pay for gold, you might be considering using a credit card. But just because it’s a payment option doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea.
Learn more about how to use a credit card to pay for gold, if there are any costs or roadblocks involved, and when it may — or may not — be a good idea.
Using a Credit Card to Buy Gold
In general, you can purchase gold with a credit card, says Sarah Munson, chief marketing officer of Blanchard & Company, a rare coin and bullion investment company.
“It works the same way you might buy a shirt from your favorite online retailer,” she says. “However, given the high-value products we sell, we may require additional verification from a new client, and we do require shipment to the credit card billing address.”
However, before you assume that plunking down your plastic to buy gold is a given, you might want to check in with the gold seller and your credit card company to make sure the transaction is allowed. Even when you get the green light to buy gold with your card, keep in mind that how the purchase is coded could involve additional fees.
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Fees, Purchase Type and Other Facts to Know
“There can definitely be a surcharge for credit card transactions made to buy gold,” says Adem Selita, co-founder of The Debt Relief Co. Oftentimes, that’s because credit card companies may jack up the merchant fees for cash-like transactions, and that expense could be passed on to the customer.
In most cases, expect that fee to be around 4% of the purchase price. On a $5,000 gold purchase, you’d pay an additional $200.
“The credit card processing fee can be a roadblock for some, as it adds to the overall acquisition cost of the gold,” says Munson. “However, we have many clients who prefer using a credit card simply for the convenience of it versus going to the bank to pay for and send a wire transfer.”
Also worth noting is that sellers could place a dollar limit on gold purchased via credit card. For example, Blanchard & Company has a $10,000 order limit when customers pay with a credit card online; orders over the phone do not have a set limit.
There might also be issuers that block or restrict certain types of purchases such as gold, says Selita. Similar to how card companies began placing surcharges on credit card cryptocurrency transactions, that could be the case with gold.
“Most credit card companies don’t want to see liquid assets that can be used as a security/collateral being purchased with unsecured borrowing products like credit cards” says Selita. “It’s a liability for them.”
In some cases, there have been customer reports about gold purchases being coded as a “cash-like” transaction and therefore a cash advance. Similar to how using a credit card on gambling sites is treated, precious metals may be considered a type of currency.
U.S. News contacted several credit issuers for official policy regarding gold, but they did not respond.
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Maximizing Credit Card Gold Purchases
Cardholders in the market for gold — who are confident they won’t carry a balance and pay additional interest — may be able to time the purchase strategically to their benefit. For example, a gold purchase could help new cardholders meet a spending minimum required to earn a welcome bonus.
What’s less clear is whether or not a gold purchase on a credit card will earn rewards or qualify for promotions like an introductory 0% purchase annual percentage rate offer. If the purchase is classified as a cash advance, then the buyer wouldn’t earn rewards, and interest would have no grace period with a cash advance APR.
Think Twice Before Putting a Gold Purchase on Credit
If you do find a seller that accepts credit cards and have a card issuer that counts gold as a regular purchase and not a cash advance, you’ve cleared the first couple of hurdles. Next, figure out if buying gold with a credit card is a good strategy overall. Some experts don’t think so.
“I can think of only one thing worse than buying gold with a credit card, and that would be buying crypto with a credit card,” says Robert R. Johnson, professor of finance at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business. “Other than going to a loan shark, there literally is no higher cost of funds than interest paid on credit card debt.”
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He also points out that the return on gold — while attractive right now — isn’t guaranteed to continue. “All of the interest in gold as an investment is driven by the strong recent returns,” Johnson says.
He says that outsized returns could be causing “recency bias,” which is the tendency to overemphasize recent market events and assume they will continue — leading to irrational decisions. “This is taking place in spades when it comes to gold right now,” Johnson warns.
If you’re determined to add gold to your portfolio, run the idea past a financial advisor. Then, crunch the numbers to see if using a credit card to buy gold involves additional fees, and, if so, factor that into your decision.
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Can You Use a Credit Card to Buy Gold? Perhaps You Shouldn’t originally appeared on usnews.com
