Comment by johnchristopher | Hacker News Reader

Comment by johnchristopher | Hacker News Reader

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johnchristopher

Might depend on the country of the parent and its money culture (credit card usage, etc.).

FWIW, the other day I just made a quick payment with my bank mobile app. I entered an amount of money, it displayed a qr code, the other party (with a different bank) scanned it and the money was transferred instantly. It's a totally free service, no monthly charge, no piling interests, doesn't require me to go into a bank or fill an online demand to get a credit card. Way easier to split the restaurant fees or something that way. Europe, yeah for bancontact.

And:

> and no interest if you have the discipline to not carry a balance.

But there is no interest on debit card and you don't need the credit card discipline so it's not really an advantage over debit card. Some people just don't need or want a credit card. I am obliged to take one because some online services (mooc) requires it (and it's a bother, I should have done that a month ago but it's a hassle to do).

A credit card literally pays you to use it, with cash back or miles or whatever you get. If the price is the same for debit, why would you not use a credit card?

I think that's only in North America. Never heard of that elsewhere.

And in the UK. I use mine for miles and can upgrade myself on transatlantic flights a couple of times a year, just from day-to-day card use. Why would I use debit when I could get that for no extra effort or cost?

I didn't know that was a main reason for using Credit over Debit. I only fly about three times a year, so not sure it would be worth it. I think the main reason I don't use credit cards too much is the idea of debt. I've been in debt before and it is not pleasant, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.

It's probably not a logical thing, but more like people who went through food rationing - who would never leave even a pea on their plate afterwards. On a more macro-level, you can probably see a reluctance to splash cash around for around a decade after each financial collapse.

If you can't be sure that you can pay off the debt of a single month's everyday spending then yes a credit card is not for you, but I think only a tiny minority of people have such a problem.

Do you find being in a restaurant and having eaten but not yet settled the bill stressful? Or having been in a hotel room for a few days and not checked out yet? I'm not sure I'd consider a monthly credit card debt to be morally different to either of those debts. You just haven't settled the bill until the end of the stay, the meal, or the month.

A credit card costs extra. And you still need the debit card that is usually included with your account, because credit cards are only accepted in very few places. (Netherlands, but I hear Belgium and Germany are similar.)

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