Credit cards have amazing insurance if u use them to buy faulty products etc etc.

Yup that too.

But if you have a large income and a credit card with 0% interest on purchases surely you could pay for a holiday on a credit card and then the money for said holiday could sit in an isa and make you cash until the holiday has to be paid for.

My savings do sit in my isa and as such make me more money than if they were simply in a current account (or at least they did until I used them to pay my fees). But if, like I said above, I was to need something in an emergency my debit card wouldn't cover it so I'd put it on the credit card then use the money in the isa to pay it off.

It you're sensible a credit card can be a shrewd way to manage your money.

I can see the benefits both ways. But it just depends on whether you can trust yourself to be sensible. Keeping your money in your own bank account for the longest time possible is always going to be of the best benifit to your bank balance. So long as you don't pay out higher interest than you make.

I use a credit card for a few reasons:
1) the benefits, like air miles, travel insurance, problems with items you've bought (especially over the net)
2) no hassle of an overdraft, with associated fees, so I'm never checking how much money I have in my account
3) improves my credit rating which could help me in the future to take out loans, or to buy a car

I know someone who set up a direct debit to pay off his credit card bill, so if you can't be bothered for the hassle of having to make payments, you won't have any problems, and you'll still have all these advantages...

Debit cards are hard to come by down here - everyone has EFTPOS cards but are no good when you want to buy things over the phone/internet.  I think my bank is the first to have an actual debit card and I only got that towards the end of last year, so getting a credit card was useful for us and always good to have in an emergency, especially when hubby thought that he'd have to fly home at short notice coz his dad was quite seriously ill recently but I do see the pitfalls in having one.

You had better not let Karin hear you saying that she might get the wrong impression

And who's Karin?

A German Frau who gives me unfettered access to her bits

On the point of Credit / Debit cards.

A lot of german Hotels / Shops do not accept Credit cards because of the additional charges they have to pay.

Debt cards are usually fine but it is better if they have an “EC electronic Cash” branding.

Fair enough although I would assume that flexibility would only be beneficial to the vast minority of users.

I was just listing the benefits, not saying each one applied to everyone!

(oh .. almost forgot .. )


Not just huge for high earners. Through the 80s and early 90s, increases in credit limits were pretty automatic if you kept the same card.
My retired mother with zero income but still (I believe) using a Barclaycard from the late 70s has a credit limit of around £25k, much higher than mine and I have an income! 


Finally - which is better depends on your circumstances.
If I wasn't able to pay off the CC every month, then a debit card backed up by a loan would be better (unless you can wangle an interest-free period, and know you can pay it off at the end).
So the poll needs to have an option "depends".