Fraud protection of credit cards is the root of modern e-commerce. In some ways, Visa and Mastercard are the privatized court systems of the internet. If I end up on a random, self-hosted ecommerce site and decide to make a purchase - what guarantee do I have that the item will show up or be as-described? If I bought something through a bank transfer, reversing that purchase would be incredibly difficult. And, suing…
...In the US. Outside the US, credit cards are much less common outside the US. The alternative to credit cards isn't CoD, it's debit cards, which are connected directly to a bank account. Merchants love debit cards because they have near-zero transaction fees. You don't need credit card for chargebacks, just strong consumer protection laws that permit the bank to claw the money back from the merchant. As for fraud,…
> People seem more wary of accruing debt in Europe; it's easy to lose control over your personal finances with a credit card.
Well using credit means you're taking a loan, and subsequently paying interest on that loan even if it's just a month. Why would you pay interest on a loan that you don't need and pay an exorbitant amount in monthly fees just to have the card? Seems like absolute lunacy. And here it doesn't tie into the credit score system much so there isn't a reason to do it solely because of that.
Luckily these days there are fee-less prepaid cards that work like debit cards, but function as credit cards. That's my go-to.