[amanda6035]

Originally Posted by excelblue

1.) Much better protection; if your card gets stolen, you have no liability, and invalid charges are very easily protested via a phone call (chargeback). In contrast, with most debit cards, you're liable up to $50 and have to go thru a certain (relatively long) process to recover your money.

Not true. If your debit card has a visa or mastercard logo on it, and you run your debit card AS a credit card when paying for purchases (ie, you do NOT enter your pin), it's got the same protections as a credit card.

Originally Posted by excelblue

2.) Security. It's not linked to any of your actual money. That's why there's a bill at the end.

Yes, a bill that you have to pay...with interest. Why pay some ridiculous fee to a credit card company because for the convenience of using "their money" to make the purchase rather than using my own money? For rewards points? Okay, so how much money do you have to spend to get something "free" back as a reward?

Originally Posted by excelblue

3.) Safety margin. Despite the high rates, in case of emergency, it's a great source of extra money. You don't even pay interest if it's extremely short term (i.e. within the month).

What constitutes an emergency? The girls are going out tonight and I don't get paid until next week? Oh I'll just put it on my credit card! That's what ends up happening. If instead, you build up an emergency fund of 3-6 months of your monthly expenses, you won't need a credit card for "emergencies. If you have $10-$15K in an easily accessible (but not too easy) bank account, if your car dies, or your air conditioning unit goes out on your house, you will have the money to fix the emergency. You don't need a credit card for that.

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Oh, I wasn't trying to trash you for posting it -- I was just trying to get a better understanding of it.

From what I read, it seemed like this company would compile its own "credit report" for you and, when you need to apply for credit (which is the kicker), they will give you a document that you can give to the lender. I cannot think of one business that would accept a printout from me as proof of credit history (as much as FICO, et al have their faults, they ARE the standards).

As long as you're using credit responsibly, I don't see a problem with it. Getting a CC and paying it off within the grace period = no interest, so I'm not sure how you'd "pay more in finance charges" than you would on a membership to this site. For someone establishing creditworthiness ~$50 on gas/groceries or whatever and paying it off each month is a good jumping off point.

(ex-banker here, so I always jump in on these topics lol)

I understand I used to work at a credit union.

I agree....but the problem is, simply put most people do NOT use credit responsibly. They don't pay it off immediately. And even those that "do", the credit card industry is finding ways that they are still going to make money off of you. You can't temporarily borrow money from a credit card company and not pay some kind of fee for it. Credit card companies aren't charity. They are in it to make money. The consumer has no way to pull a fast one on the credit card company; the CC company WILL make a profit off of you somehow. One day, you'll slip up. You'll have an "emergency" and you won't be able to pay it in full that month. Then it becomes a slippery slope.

While you're probably right that many places won't necessary take a print out for credit worthiness, it's a start. Ecredable has only been around 3-4 years I believe, and there are companies who WILL take a report on how often you've paid your regular utilities, and other monthly bills, on time. It may be that you rent from a landlord with a house, rather than a mega apartment complex. As I mentioned previously, you may be required to put down a deposit (but if you don't have debt, a couple hundred dollar deposit shouldn't be an issue for you).

Now, if FICO would get their CRAP together and determine credit worthiness on a scale that was based on financial responsibility rather than "how well you played the game" with debt, then people wouldnt feel like they had to get a credit card and play with debt in order to prove credit worthiness for large scale purchases, such as a car or house. Or you could just be totally weird and save up to pay cash for those kinds of purchases and credit wouldn't even be a factor.