For a while, i wondered why Americans tend use their credit cards instead of debit cards but then it occurred that they are encouraged to use credit cards because you cant get into debt using debit cards and debt is very profitable.
There’s that, but there are also more legal consumer protections against fraud with credit cards than with debit cards.
Also debit cards don’t earn cash back or points. I visit my cousins on airline points. Monitor your cards and make sure you don’t exceed your budget, same as a debit card.
6% on groceries adds up.
You also have to have credit to get loans. I ran into this issue when I bought a house. I hadn’t had a credit card in years because it was too easy to get into debt. The only thing that saved me is I am on one of my folks credit cards for rare emergencies if I’m watching their house and something goes awry (like the dehumidifier shits all over the basement floor and needs replaced).
I would totally use my debit card more if it has the same level of fraud protection that credit cards have.
It’d be nice to be able to do a chargeback on a debit card transaction.
I’m gonna wait and see if you can figure out how your statement relates to credit cards being more profitable for the ruling class than debit cards…
because you cant get into debt using debit cards
Lol that’s cute. They’ve recently started changing this shit, but at least when I was in college, banks were 100% putting people into debt and making tons of money on overdraft fees. For using debit.
They had a program called, “overdraft protection” that customer service loved to sign you up for if you accidentally overdrafted. That should fix things right?
Lol no. Turns out what they meant by “protection” was “protection from your card being declined.” In other words, if a purchase was going to put your account into the negative, instead of simply declining the transaction and preventing the customer from incurring a fee, it makes sure the purchase goes through, and the customer is charged $35 for overdrafting.
They also had a practice of re-ordering a customer’s transactions in order to maximize overdraft fees. I believe this one has been illegal since Obama though.
It’s also because a lot of people see the rewards as ways of getting free money. However that’s really only the case if you pay your card regularly. As well some Americans truly don’t have the required income to live. So they go into debt. It’s terrible, sad, and wrong on so many levels, but it’s a major part as well.
Frankly I use my credit card as my debit card. Hell I don’t even have a physical debit card. Why you ask? Rewards points.
This is definitely an order of magnitude calculation, but doesn’t that correspond to $60 per person in the US? Is this big number scary article?
Depends. Are you dividing by total population or actual cc holders? Because the latte isn’t as big.
That’s an espresso way to debt central that’s for sure
Mocha money mocha problems amirite
Stats from some googling. Assuming there are 250 million adults in US, and 80% have credit cards, that gives me 200 million holders, or ~$100 per person. That’s not really a whole lot of money anymore. Not in a world where taco bell costs $20.
Ya I just checked and you’re right. However, we could still infer certain trends.by examining the shift
Agreed. The article also includes a consumer debt trend over time. It seems to outpace inflation by about 33% which is more noteworthy to me.
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This… Americans Are Tapped Out
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Why do you sound excited? This would literally ruin the entire century and maybe the next one.
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You’re fine, it did come off a bit like some accelerationist fanfic I’ve heard
Hooch, hookers and coke or wage theft?
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This could be another indicator that we are going into recession. I did not read the article (because who does that? 🤣) but when you look at rising credit card debt combined with the mass layoffs, it usually means folks are on their last legs, financially speaking.
That is assuming there actually is a problem with higher credit card debt and the topic is ‘t being sensationalized, of course.
Another indicator to watch out for is falling revenue in earnings reports. Falling revenue, particularly in retail and consumer goods spaces means recession is inbound.
I firmly believe that, absent some additional support, we will enter a recession within 2 years.
Note: I don’t claim to be an economist, but I am old and I have lived through a few of these downturns.
