3 ms·
There is an upside to credit cards over debit cards -- you haven't given up your own money until you pay the credit card balance. This is an important way to k
by wvenable 4y ago
There is an upside to credit cards over debit cards -- you haven't given up your own money until you pay the credit card balance. This is an important way to keep yourself safe.
My wife had her debit card compromised and some money taken and that money is gone. She filed a police report and disputed it with her bank and, after sometime, was able get her money back. If there is fraud on a credit card, the situation is very different because you haven't lost any money. There may be some fraudulent charges that need disputing but during that time you're still entirely whole.
And that applies to any number of goods and services as well. If you paid cash for something and didn't receive what you paid for, you're out that money. On credit card, you're whole until you make a payment.
In my opinion, nobody should be using debit cards if they have the option to use a credit card. It's safer, there's usually some rewards, and there's often added purchase insurance. I broke an expensive phone one week after purchasing it and the repairs were covered by my credit card.
- jgwil2 4y agoAren't the transaction fees higher for credit cards than for debit cards?
- anamax 4y agoThere's no free lunch. You may not value the additional protection that credit cards have but other people do.
- wvenable 4y agoFor merchants, yes. But that doesn't affect you as the consumer.
- jgwil2 4y agoWell, it does though, by raising the average cost of transactions for merchants, a cost that they will pass on to consumers. It means that if you're not using a credit card, then you're paying higher prices in order to subsidize people who do use credit cards. In my observation, it's also becoming more common for merchants to have two different prices for credit card users and others, so you may find yourself paying more if you use credit cards everywhere.
- wvenable 4y agoIt's against a merchant's credit card agreement to charge different prices for credit cards vs. non-credit cards. A few small merchants will offer "cash discounts" as a way to get around this but it's not common. I get cash back from my credit card. This is partially paid by the merchant fees. So one way to look at it is that I'm getting a discount at every merchant by using my credit card. Anyone not using a credit card is not getting that discount.