True, and fees are often way lower for debit cards as well. Not sure what it is in practice, but here's an example:
http://www.cardfellow.com/blog/debit-card-charge-calculator-...
> That's not true everywhere. I'm not sure if it's US-only behaviour, but in other countries, the majority don't use credit cards for debt - just as a convenient payment mechanism.
Sorry to pull an HN special on you, but do you have any kind of source for that? I've never heard it, though I have heard that debit card usage is much higher in Europe.
No reason to apologise for asking for a source :) Always legitimate.
Unfortunately, I don't have one. I do live in Israel though and I can tell you that here, at least, most credit cards are used like debit cards (as I understand them). We do technically buy on credit, but pay up at the end of every month.
We do have one thing which, afaik, doesn't exist in the US, which is that we can "split up" a payment when paying for an item. E.g. you buy something for 100$, you can ask to pay in 2 installments of $50. That's pretty common, and usually doesn't cost anything extra for small amounts of installments.
It’s very similar here in Argentina, but we usually have a different plastic piece to use as debit card and as credit card.
Well, with an N of 1, this is overwhelmingly how my wife and I use credit cards. Better consumer protection and less hassle than either cash or a debit card. Feel a little bit bad about making everyone else pay for that, but not bad enough to overwhelm those concerns.
That's not true everywhere. I'm not sure if it's US-only behaviour, but in other countries, the majority don't use credit cards for debt - just as a convenient payment mechanism.