People Are Increasingly Scared Of Credit Cards. Here’s When You Should Be.

There are reasons not to use a credit card but they’re bad reasons if you’re educated about credit and can exercise self control.

Credit cards can come with high interest and high fees, but not if you pay off your full bill monthly (and you should only take cards with high annual fees when you’re clearly getting significantly more value than the fees). And it’s important not to spend more money than you otherwise would by virtue of having a credit card.

And applying for cards can temporarily depress your credit score. Spending a lot on your cards relative to your available credit card lower your score. When you go for a mortgage having a score of 760 or higher matters. On the other hand having more available credit that you use responsibly can improve your score, and having accounts for long periods of time can too. So contra the advice of Dave Ramsey wannabes credit cards aren’t inherently ‘bad for your score’.

In Europe credit card use skews older, a concern for card issuers (and companies that partner providing loyalty points to card issuers). In the U.S. a recent survey suggests that nearly half of millennial women feel anxous about using credit cards.

However with debit cards fraudulent activity takes money out of your bank account and you don’t have the same legal protections as with a credit card. Most major banks are pretty good here, but you are somewhat at their mercy.

Not to mention the other protections bundled with many credit cards like extended warranty coverage, protection for loss or damage to an item usually within 60 or 90 days, and travel coverage like lost and delayed baggage and payments in the event of cancelled or delayed trips.

It’s actually very simple. If you don’t spend more than you otherwise would and pay off your bill in full on time each month credit cards are better than debit cards, cash and other methods of payment. If you don’t meet either of those conditions then tools that free you wind up used irresponsibly so for many it’s wise to adopt forms of payment which are binding constraints on the ability to get into financial trouble.

There’s no question that you shouldn’t be focusing on miles, points and rewards if you don’t pay off your cards in full each month. You want to pay attention to interest rates. There are 0% balance transfer cards that can help keep costs down but it’s important to pay attention to their terms (how to keep the low rate, and for how long) and to compare balance transfer fee costs across cards as well.

Surprisingly I do think there are some people some times who should revolve credit on a card, but it’s important to do so at the lowest possible cost. Credit cards are a better borrowing tool than payday loans, for instance. And for people with immediate medical bills or car repair bills to get to work they can make sense as the least bad of bad options.

The way to think of this is to consider this classic piece from The Onion where ‘mom and pop loan sharks’ are being driven out of business by credit card companies.

The need for consumers to borrow is always there, so it’s a matter of finding the lowest cost (which for people who do use payday loan stores, as undesirable as that option may seem, choose it because it’s less bad than alternatives).

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. […] People Are Increasingly Scared Of Credit Cards. Here’s When You Should Be. – Credit cards aren’t what you should be afraid of, you should be afraid of your potential to spend more than you can afford to pay off each month.  Like many things, the benefits outweigh the risks for the majority of people, but there are some that should just steer clear.  You need to have an honest conversation with yourself and, if you cannot resist, then find other ways to “travel hack”. […]

Comments

  1. I pay off my credit cards in full every month (and have since I got my first card 20 years ago). However I also have a love / hate relationship with credit cards as I fee they invariable make me spend more money. Whether I spend 1 dollar or 1000 dollars it “feels” the same when using a credit card.

  2. Very true. Similarly worth guns and cats in hands of kids. Aa long as you told theme not to do dangerous stuff with it, It’s OK to let them have it. And since you told them don’t do dangerous stuff you have absolved yourself of any ethical, moral, legal and social obligations if something bad does happen.

  3. Very good well written. Interesting I hardly carry cash at all these days. Between Apple Pay, Debit and CC I really don’t need them.

    For me I think the fear of identity thief is of greatest concern. My Business PLT Amex has been hacked at least once a year, each of my employees that carry it has been hacked which I find interesting since the Visa has not been hacked once.

    Another point is all people out there getting using / closing / getting another card for points at only increasing their potential for identity thief

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