Everyone has different perceptions of what credit cards are and how they ought to be used, but for simplicity, people can be whittled down into having three different mentalities about these funny bits of plastic, which have the potential to provide so much pleasure and at the same time, have the capacity to cause so much pain. First, there are the old-fashioned types, who rather distrust credit cards and prefer to deal only with the most basic of financial instruments such as one bank account, cheque and cash. Sometimes, this category of individual will have a credit card but will only use it in case of any emergency. The perception of these individuals is that a credit card is a direct equivalent to cash but existing in a different form, i.e. plastic as opposed to paper. This group of people tend to distrust themselves with the use or abuse of credit card(s) and/or distrust credit card companies, whom they may perceive as being sneaky in terms of slipping in extra charges here and there at any opportunity. While these perceptions towards the idea of the credit card may be true, this may be one of the more extreme views taken by people.
The Casual Consumer
The second group of people perhaps composes the largest number of people concerning the attitude towards credit cards. This middle area consists of those who are favourable and optimistic about the idea of possessing one or more credit cards as a matter of convenience. The perception here is that the credit card is an alternative form of payment for both everyday good as well as for luxury items purchases. The cardholder within this group may or may not perceive the credit card(s) as equivalent to cash in the sense that these people will vary in their payment methods. Meaning, the conservative end of this group will prefer to pay off their entire balance(s) every month while the more liberal end could allow their balance(s) to drag on for longer periods. Whether or not the interest rate on their credit cards(s) affects them to any degree largely depends on their personal and other income.
The Clever Cardholder
A third category of cardholder exists, which may be the most sophisticated of the three types. These are people who possess the outlook and behaviour of the second group to some extent, but they are also people who toy with credit cards because they see them as tools for other financial projects. The people in this group are aware of the patterns of behaviour of various credit card companies, and often use this knowledge to fund side ventures such as FX trading. The other advantage of having such knowledge is that these cardholders end up delaying their credit card payments by rotating their debt amongst several credit card accounts via a continuous stream of 0% or otherwise extremely low balance transfer offers either for the life of the balance or a specified period of time. It is often the case that this class of cardholder will have substantial means to repay the debt in the event that the balance transfers cease to be offered, but merely uses the offers to delay repayment and avoid interest on the repayments. If you have tried to rotate your credit card debt, you will be aware that the second one credit card is paid off once the 0% or low interest rate offer expires, this will activate a similar offer in another credit card account. The new credit card company is after the balance transfer fee, which is relatively small compared to the interest you will be saving by keeping the balance in the original credit card account.
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Everyone has different perceptions of what credit cards are and how they ought to be used, but for simplicity, people can be whittled down into having three different mentalities about these funny bits of plastic, which have the potential to provide so much pleasure and at the same time, have the capacity to cause so much pain. First, there are the old-fashioned types, who rather distrust credit cards and prefer to deal only with the most basic of financial instruments such as one bank account, cheque and cash. Sometimes, this category of individual will have a credit card but will only use it in case of any emergency. The perception of these individuals is that a credit card is a direct equivalent to cash but existing in a different form, i.e. plastic as opposed to paper. This group of people tend to distrust themselves with the use or abuse of credit card(s) and/or distrust credit card companies, whom they may perceive as being sneaky in terms of slipping in extra charges here and there at any opportunity. While these perceptions towards the idea of the credit card may be true, this may be one of the more extreme views taken by people.
The Casual Consumer
The second group of people perhaps composes the largest number of people concerning the attitude towards credit cards. This middle area consists of those who are favourable and optimistic about the idea of possessing one or more credit cards as a matter of convenience. The perception here is that the credit card is an alternative form of payment for both everyday good as well as for luxury items purchases. The cardholder within this group may or may not perceive the credit card(s) as equivalent to cash in the sense that these people will vary in their payment methods. Meaning, the conservative end of this group will prefer to pay off their entire balance(s) every month while the more liberal end could allow their balance(s) to drag on for longer periods. Whether or not the interest rate on their credit cards(s) affects them to any degree largely depends on their personal and other income.
The Clever Cardholder
A third category of cardholder exists, which may be the most sophisticated of the three types. These are people who possess the outlook and behaviour of the second group to some extent, but they are also people who toy with credit cards because they see them as tools for other financial projects. The people in this group are aware of the patterns of behaviour of various credit card companies, and often use this knowledge to fund side ventures such as FX trading. The other advantage of having such knowledge is that these cardholders end up delaying their credit card payments by rotating their debt amongst several credit card accounts via a continuous stream of 0% or otherwise extremely low balance transfer offers either for the life of the balance or a specified period of time. It is often the case that this class of cardholder will have substantial means to repay the debt in the event that the balance transfers cease to be offered, but merely uses the offers to delay repayment and avoid interest on the repayments. If you have tried to rotate your credit card debt, you will be aware that the second one credit card is paid off once the 0% or low interest rate offer expires, this will activate a similar offer in another credit card account. The new credit card company is after the balance transfer fee, which is relatively small compared to the interest you will be saving by keeping the balance in the original credit card account.
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