4 ms·

The appeal is largely that credit cards let you spend money you don't have, and debit cards, by definition, don't. For people who have a hard time operating wit

The appeal is largely that credit cards let you spend money you don't have, and debit cards, by definition, don't. For people who have a hard time operating within their budget with credit cards, this is a huge difference.

jk563 10y ago
Worth pointing out that this can be fuzzy, I have a £1600 overdraft facility that I can use with my debit card (I don't use it though).
- eric_the_read 10y ago
  True enough, but I hate those things. They tend to incur nasty fees when used on top of the overdraft itself, and then there's interest to be paid on the overdraft amount if not paid in full, etc., etc. If allowed, I will always disable them, and when not allowed, I will change banks to one that will allow it.
  - jk563 10y ago
    I agree with the sentiment, though I'd argue they're getting better. For example the Nationwide FlexDirect current account[0] comes with a £1,200 overdraft limit that gets charged at 50p per day it's used. A vast improvement in my mind, I remember getting charged around £30 for going £2 overdrawn for less than 2 hours! [0] http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/our-current-accounts/overview http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/our-cu...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
nsxwolf 10y ago
Also there's no work I have to do later if I'm keeping my credit cards at zero balance. I don't have to worry about paying another bill.
mrec 10y ago
Well yes, but surely that's something that cash does even better, isn't it? I take a fixed amount of cash out once a week and that's everything I'm going to spend that week. Not only can you not spend money you don't have, you can't accidentally spend more money than you were planning to spend. (I carry a few extra weeks' buffer for emergencies, but could put that in a separate pocket or something if it ever became a temptation; so far it hasn't.) My tinfoil-hatted side does wonder whether this is half the motivation of these new "convenient" debit mechanisms - like those fake "points" currencies used by various stores and in-app purchase schemes, I'm sure people spend more money when it doesn't feel like spending money. Agree re credit cards, but I never carry a balance, they're just a payment mechanism.
- mercer 10y ago
  > Well yes, but surely that's something that cash does even better, isn't it? [...] > Agree re credit cards, but I never carry a balance, they're just a payment mechanism. I think you just answered your own question. For most people here (Holland), a credit card is not a 'default' (and so many people don't even have one). We still use our debit card all the time because it's so much more convenient as payment method than messing around with cash. Over the past few years they've been rolling out contactless payment, which is even better. You see the amount of a screen, swipe your card, and only after x transactions or over a certain amount are you asked to use the chip and enter your PIN. I'm pretty sure most of these machines also allow you to use your phone (or watch) to pay for things, but that's not as common yet. Or another example: one of the big supermarket chains here has been rolling out self-checkout kiosks at many of their stores, making the process even easier: take the stuff you want, scan it, swipe your card, and just walk away!
  - mrec 10y ago
    We (UK) have had self-checkout tills for a few years too, but they still take cash as well as debit card. Maybe I'm just old, but I don't want payment to be too frictionless. Cash still strikes the right balance for me; convenient enough that I don't get annoyed by it, not so convenient that I lose track of what I'm spending.

jk563 10y ago

Worth pointing out that this can be fuzzy, I have a £1600 overdraft facility that I can use with my debit card (I don't use it though).

eric_the_read 10y ago
True enough, but I hate those things. They tend to incur nasty fees when used on top of the overdraft itself, and then there's interest to be paid on the overdraft amount if not paid in full, etc., etc. If allowed, I will always disable them, and when not allowed, I will change banks to one that will allow it.
- jk563 10y ago
  I agree with the sentiment, though I'd argue they're getting better. For example the Nationwide FlexDirect current account[0] comes with a £1,200 overdraft limit that gets charged at 50p per day it's used. A vast improvement in my mind, I remember getting charged around £30 for going £2 overdrawn for less than 2 hours! [0] http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/our-current-accounts/overview http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/our-cu...
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

nsxwolf 10y ago

Also there's no work I have to do later if I'm keeping my credit cards at zero balance. I don't have to worry about paying another bill.

mrec 10y ago

Well yes, but surely that's something that cash does even better, isn't it? I take a fixed amount of cash out once a week and that's everything I'm going to spend that week. Not only can you not spend money you don't have, you can't accidentally spend more money than you were planning to spend. (I carry a few extra weeks' buffer for emergencies, but could put that in a separate pocket or something if it ever became a temptation; so far it hasn't.) My tinfoil-hatted side does wonder whether this is half the motivation of these new "convenient" debit mechanisms - like those fake "points" currencies used by various stores and in-app purchase schemes, I'm sure people spend more money when it doesn't feel like spending money. Agree re credit cards, but I never carry a balance, they're just a payment mechanism.

mercer 10y ago
> Well yes, but surely that's something that cash does even better, isn't it? [...] > Agree re credit cards, but I never carry a balance, they're just a payment mechanism. I think you just answered your own question. For most people here (Holland), a credit card is not a 'default' (and so many people don't even have one). We still use our debit card all the time because it's so much more convenient as payment method than messing around with cash. Over the past few years they've been rolling out contactless payment, which is even better. You see the amount of a screen, swipe your card, and only after x transactions or over a certain amount are you asked to use the chip and enter your PIN. I'm pretty sure most of these machines also allow you to use your phone (or watch) to pay for things, but that's not as common yet. Or another example: one of the big supermarket chains here has been rolling out self-checkout kiosks at many of their stores, making the process even easier: take the stuff you want, scan it, swipe your card, and just walk away!
- mrec 10y ago
  We (UK) have had self-checkout tills for a few years too, but they still take cash as well as debit card. Maybe I'm just old, but I don't want payment to be too frictionless. Cash still strikes the right balance for me; convenient enough that I don't get annoyed by it, not so convenient that I lose track of what I'm spending.