Whose got the trousers on?

[Sysman]

This one is true but it is a little more complicated than that. If you have no form of credit like young person or someone that has never had a loan card etc you have a blank credit record. This can cause issues as your credit worthiness cannot be verified. Having no history in some cases can be as unhelpful as a bad one. I had a friend who got refused two loans on the basis of no credit history.

Back in the days when credit cards were quite a new thing and mortgages were difficult to get, I took out a small bank loan for a car. That did give me a credit record and I found it relatively easy to get a mortgage.

If you are already active in the system they absolutely yes, a credit card makes no difference.

I got my first credit card because of a lengthy delay between submitting expenses claims and being reimbursed. It gave me a much needed buffer when I'd bought my first house.

[Sysman]

I wonder if there are any on here who had or have one and wish they didn't.

I did in the early nineties when a couple of customers went bankrupt. My credit cards (with generous limits for back then) meant I could still rack up hotel and travel expenses when I should have stopped working instead. Slow payers were effectively using my credit as a free loan as well.

[darmstadt]

Likewise at least one department store (Manor) is offering their own credit cards, tied into a loyalty card scheme. Again, good discounts are available to entice you to get one. I am pretty sure this lot will be accumulating data on your spending patterns.

Yep, same here. My one credit card is with Karstadt which is also a loyalty card

[doodab]

I buy stuff off of the internet all the time with my Visa Debit, and any time the goods haven't arrived the purchase has been covered under exactly the same Chargeback scheme as Visa Credit cards use.

Actually this isn't a marketing myth. Section 75 consumer credit act applies to credit cards but not debit cards. Chargeback is something different.

Most credit cards also offer theft and accident protection on things you buy with them.

I do most of my spending on one. Over the course of a year the cashback adds up to quite a lot.