Originally Posted by
youngmoneyhack
...
there is certainly still a lot of ugly with this product for many people. For one, it is specifically designed to keep anyone who actually revolves in debt for a non-obvious length of time with high interest and nontransparent card terms.
Even for those of us who do not revolve, I frequently come across a lot of pain points with using credit cards (high friction to online purchasing (esp. with mobile), lack of basic card security in the U.S. with EMV-less chips, frustrating/unintuitive consumer-facing user bank portals, broken credit scoring/rating system, etc.)
...
“Jane, you ignorant slut.” (SNL circa late 70’s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttqgwlCsXZM )
A counterpoint if you don’t mind. There is also a lot of beautiful with this product for many people. A byproduct of the design mentioned above is that for those who actually pay off their balances in full every month and for whom it is not an incitement to riot (spend impulsively) it can be incredibly rewarding. Many of us here at FT have reaped these rewards, often at little or no cost other than a few moments of our time.
I’ve experienced little pain associated with credit cards. These days one Visa or MC card can be used nearly universally, in person or online, with little liability for fraudulent activity and occasional (actually welcomed) fraud alerts, when spending seems out of character, which are easily cleared with a brief phone call.
My only significant gripe with credit cards is overseas customer (non)service call centers although even that is a self-induced phenomenon. (Now that AmEx has eliminated Secure Messaging, attempting to get a Bonus Bump is basically impossible. You could talk to someone for whom English is not their first language for 2 hours and they still would not understand what you are trying to accomplish.)