I know this might just reflect financial culture differences across countries, but let's give it a try
Edit: as a clarification, I meant credit card compared to debit, not to cash
I use a credit card because our laws in the USA protect credit-card purchases better than they do debit-card and other electronic purchases.
Although I use a credit card with revolving credit, I always pay the full balance each month. In this way, it acts as a debit card, but I get the benefits of a credit card. I have to remember to pay it on time, but I can set up autopay even for that.
My credit union (a kind of non-profit bank owned by its members) is the issuer of the card, and it gives a 2% cash award for credit-card usage.
In France, most of people don't even realised that credit cards shown in american TV productions aren't like our (debit) cards.
But that's totally normal when you see someone paying with a card to assume that they have indeed pay, rather than assuming that they have indebted themselves despite being able to afford the product.If in the US, there is almost no downside to credit cards as long there's no annual fee and you pay it off in full every month. Most credit cards have some kind of rewards like cashback, miles, discounts, etc., so you gain something from using them. Banks are also very strict with fraud (because it's their money you're spending), so they will most likely side with you if you file a claim for unauthorized purchases. If you used a debit card, it's your money that gets stolen; and while the bank will try its best to recover it, they have less incentive to work for it compared to a credit card.
I never did, because in Europe people don't need to build a credit score, and it is usually advised to only use money you have.
Anecdotal evidence, but the only people I know that use them have a tendency to overspend.
Where in Europe, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm in the UK, and we have to build a credit score if we want to get a mortgage, a loan, or any sort of finance, unless it's from somewhere predatory like a payday lender.
In Europe they are basically featureless, and the only people I have seen using them were those who struggle with consumerism.
NZ here, I use it for online purchases. Credit cards have the advantage of extra fraud protection, as well as having a safety net of being able to do a chargeback in case the seller does fraud or something. I don't need to pay any interest on it either because I make use of the interest free days. I have a direct debit set up so the bill gets cleared on its own every month, so I don't forget and accidentally pay interest or something.
If you get a cash back/rewards card and pay in full every month, you get paid for shopping.
