Do credit cards encourage people to spend more?

Question

Do credit cards encourage people to spend more?

Answer 1

I was  in banking for 40 years and I think credit cards do lots of harm to people who can not manage well... 90% of the people would be better off with out them.. Bottom line as I see it this way; If you dont have the money to pay cash and have to put it on a credit card... how can you possibly have enough money to pay the high interest... and the answer is you dont.. it just makes a bad matter worse as you increase your balance..On the other hand if you have enough money to pay cash but use the credit card...and pay their interest... your not going to have money for long with that kind of thinking.. so.... we would be better off with out credit cards in the long run.  You can not borrow your way out of debt.. and that is what many people try to do... they keep getting more credit cards and higher limits.. It doesnt work.. the principal has to be paid back at some point ...and with credit cards it just adds a bunch of high interest to the principal....

Answer 2

Yes.

McDonalds did a study and it showed that  people spent quite a bit more if they used their credit cards versus cash.

I think there is a psychological barrier when you have to pull more bills from your wallet versus a swipe of the card.

Answer 3

they really do cuz they look smaller and easy to carry around, just roll my credit card over the ATM in the stores and go to te other shop to do the same thing.

Answer 4

Very much so!

Answer 5

It does for me!

Answer 6

Yes....if you don't use them properly, you will get yourself into a lot of trouble and never pay them off.  Only use them for emergencies, or in situations where you can take the cash and pay them off right away.  Better yet, don't use them if you can help it, if you know you don't have the cash to pay for something, then you obviously can't afford to charge it either.

Been there done that...learned my lessons with credit cards.  Only keep one on hand for emergencies.

Answer 7

yes for me because i would use them when i worked but then i would lose the job and not be able to pay on them. I learned my lesson though. Cash for everything now.