That's how mine works. You need too be disciplined so as to not spend more than you can pay off, but since I also get cash rewards on my credit card, I buy everything on my card and just pay it off. I also earn interest on my checking account at my credit union, so leaving the money in the entire month until I pay off the credit card gains interest that way. I'm sure the credit card company hates me, I keep earning cash back rewards but I haven't paid a dime in interest or fees since I got the card. But like I said - it takes discipline to live like that, it's too tempting for some to just keep on charging right up to the limit of their card.
They charge the retailers a fee so they make money. They charge more than for debit cards. Several times I have had companies contact me including my own business bank to quote for card handling on my website and it can be as much as 20 quid or more a month and 8%!!!! which is mare than paypal or stripe.
So the retailer takes this into account in their pricing, nothing is free and the end customer always pays.
Yes, you are right, the customer always pays, but not all customers pay the same and you can balance convenience and how much you pay and how.
My favorite card lets me get cash advances at common places like grocery stores with NO cash advance fee or any kind of a bank fee. It is treated just as if I bought some bananas. It has literally eliminated the need for me to go to cash machines and play that "which network is my card and this machine on".
Yeah, I get a 1% rebate on all purchases and a higher percentage on various places on various months. I once used the card to buy a US Savings Bond AND I got the 1% rebate (absolutely unheard of). I spoke with them at length before the transaction and they couldn't believe it either. Shortly thereafter the Government stopped offering payment for them via a CC.
They are very customer-friendly about claims being filed. They offer a best price guarantee thing if you find an item cheaper. I bought a vacuum cleaner from a Dept. Store (that is now bankrupt). The online price was some $20 cheaper and advertised (and not with only good online). I discovered this when I went to buy it in the store. Even the clerks were surprised but could
not charge me the lower price. I simply sent the lower price advert in a pdf with a claim form and the CC honored the difference in a credit.
I ordered an expensive item through Amazon. Even though I was watching the stops on shipping day, it abruptly got damaged and was never delivered. Amazon wanted ME to cancel the order, which would produce a credit to my account, and then re-order. I said EFUUU, you entered the agreement, you honor it and I am not cancelling crap - give me my item...and I challenged the charge with the CC. They sent me the item which arrived the next day and I took an extra day before withdrawing the claim. For some reason after explaining to several Amazon employees in writing. the fundamentals of contractual agreements, they decided that I deserved a free multi-month Amazon Prime membership which they extended until it hit the if-then statement that said this guy isn't buying one.
On a few occasions they have asked for verification on a large purchase - I am fine with that. It rarely happens anymore because I think my patterns are well understood programmatically.
I don't carry a balance that incurs a finance charge ever. They don't care. Anybody who invests their money and carries credit card debt needs to ask themselves if their investments pay anywhere near what they are being charged for by the CC company, when they carry a balance. The answer is that they do not have safe investments that pay that much interest, period. The investment that the banks with the credit cards make is to borrow your money at something like 2% and then loan it out to you for something like 8%. Sweet angle if you can get it.
I don't use debit cards because my understanding is that each transaction is like writing a check and I worried that in the case of fraud, there would be multiple claims that I would have to make. Not sure I am right about that, but I have no reason to bother with a debit card.
The one fraudulent use case I remember was a different card and it basically got reversed using a phone menu and a simple form - that troubled me to realize how rampant the problem has become.
Yeah CCs are a racket but with some research, you can get them to work well for you.... *knock* on wood.