Nowadays, a lot of people believe that it’s pretty useless to have a credit card unless you’re planning to maintain a balance on it. Seriously, now…if you can afford to pay for something, why won’t you pay it in cash?
Basically, it is a shiny piece of plastic, allowing you to buy something you can’t afford now (or even make ends meet until your next paycheck comes in), so a lot of cardholders really don’t feel the urgency to pay their expenses quickly. But hey, this will only get you into massive debt…
However, a lot of cardholders do everything they can in order to pay their balance in full, so they won’t end up carrying any debt. And this is where the question comes in…
Why use a credit card instead of cash?
Keeping it short, you have a few important benefits, no matter if you have or not any balance on your card!
Using it responsibly helps you build good credit. And it really doesn’t matter if you use it for a single bill monthly! Regular payments will show lenders that you are a reliable person and will eventually help your score go up.
Besides this, having a credit card works as a buffer between the money in your account and purchases. For example, if the card information is stolen, you can dispute the eventual fraudulent charges with your issuer, with zero liability.
Finally, we have the rewards programs! Cash back credit cards are always great to have, even though getting 1-2% back might not seem that much, but if you spend bigger amounts, you can get a decent amount back.
Should you pay in full every month?
The second big question is for those who actually carry balance on their cards and the answer is, of course, yes.
Paying in full is one of the best things you can do, since you’ll end up with no interest charges and a lower credit utilization.
Used wisely, a credit card is an excellent tool, which can bring you a lot of benefits!
