Convenience
Credit cards
Give you spending power without the inconvenience of carrying around cash. Plus, with credit cards, you can buy
now and pay for the purchase in a few weeks or over a period of time.
Cash
Paying in cash means you never have to pay interest. But you can also avoid paying interest when using credit if
you pay your balance in full before the grace period ends.
Spending Ability
With cash, your spending is limited to what you have on hand. Credit cards, on the other hand, provide you with
additional purchasing power without the risks that come with carrying the same amount of cash. On the other
hand, opting for cash over credit could be a good thing. Studies have shown that people tend to spend more with
a credit card than with cash. Because you can only spend the cash available to you, you reduce the risk of going
into debt by forgoing credit cards.
Level of Protection
Federal law and credit card fraud protection policies limit your liability for fraudulent charges made on a lost or
stolen credit card . Your credit card issuer will send you a new credit card often with a new account number to
replace the missing card usually at no cost.
There's no comparable protection when you use cash. If your cash is stolen or you lose your wallet, you’re out of
luck and out of whatever cash you were carrying.
Not only do you get fraud protection when you use a credit card, you also have protection against items you
purchased but never received or items you received that were damaged or not delivered as promised.
When you have an issue with products or services you purchased cash, your only option is to resolve these issuers
directly with the merchant. Credit cards give you the ability to dispute transactions if the merchant isn’t handling
an issue to your satisfaction.