Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenophon
Well, in the US at least, the credit card business got started as a way for traveling business-men to charge their expenses to a single card without having to shell out their own expense money up front. They would then submit the expense to their employer for reimbursement and (usually) get the money before the credit card bill arrived. I note that the early cards were actually charge cards -- they required payment in full at the end of the month! The charge card companies made their money by charging a fee to the merchants. Who, in turn, made out by attracting additional business -- relatively free-spending business, at that -- in the form of the traveling businessmen who were spending OPM (Other People's Money).
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This is still a reason why most companies give a creditcard to their employees to pay for traveling expenses. You can pay for it, declare it at your employer and by the time the money gets removed from your bankaccount, you already have the money from your boss.
I have a creditcard (for ages) and if I pay for it, it will get debitted from my bank account at the end of the month, always. It is still a good way to spread your spending. We paid our latest holiday (skiing!) during two months. Part of the things we paid directly by our debit card, other parts by credit card (mostly the big one-time spender things, like ski rental and lift tickets).
I'd say a debit card is safer than a credit card. If I lose my credit card, the finder (who doesn't have my PIN) can still use it until I block the card. He only needs to go to the internet, order a lot with it and I still lose the money. If I lose my debit card, the finder (who again doesn't have my PIN) can't do anything with it. He can't get money from an ATM (as he needs the PIN), he can't use it on the internet (as he again needs the PIN).