Oh I see. But I mean why not just a debit/bank card that allows you to pay with money you have but not with money you don't? You just meant card in general. Yes I agree cash is now very inconvenient.

Basically, you're less protected against purchases gone wrong with a debit card or against fraud. A fair number of (mostly higher income) folks also get other benefits from credit cards--though that may not be relevant here.

However, a debit card usually covers the floor of needing a card of some sort to pay for a lot of things.

This is hardly ‘basically forced to have a credit card’.

I suspect a lot of people in the US use credit card generally to mean card of some sort because credit cards are so common. You do mostly need a card of some sort (and a smartphone) for many purposes but it mostly doesn't need to be a literal credit card so long as you have enough money in the bank.

How do you get a credit score?

Pay your mortgage on time every month for a few decades?

How do you get good rates for a mortgage, without a credit score?

How do you even get a mortgage without a credit score?