[BrandoElFollito]

There is no credit on the cards you get in the EU, except if you ask for some. By default there is no.

A credit card is, well, a credit with rates etc. You may pay a part and the rest runs as a credit. You have a specific contact for that. Also a credit card can be issues without a backing bank account. Our cards always (in practical sense) are backed by an account.

This is not how the cards work in the EU. You have delayed debit but no credit (formally - in practice you spend the money of the bank obviously, but you have to pay in full after 30-45 days).

American Express is a system that is used by companies (for various reasons) and this IS a credit card, but people use it for business related reasons and its delivery is triggered by the company.

[martin8412]

I live in Spain and I absolutely have a real credit card. The interest rate is awful(18%), but as long as I make a minimum payment each month, it's up to me when I pay it off.

[BrandoElFollito]

Ah! Which card is it? (which issuer). Is it attached to a bank account?

Is it common in Spain to use CC, as opposed to Debit Cards (usually delayed payment ones)?

[martin8412]

It's a Mastercard(Platinium) issued by one of the major gas station chains in Spain. I end up with 10% discount on gas because of it. Though looking the BIN up, I can see some bank is the ultimate issuer of the card, just with branding being that of the gas station chain. I don't have a bank account with the issuer of the card, so they do direct debit from my bank account once a month to cover the minimum payment. A lot of banks allow you to apply for a credit card with them even if you don't have an account with them.

I don't think it's super common to use them day to day as I do. People often use them to split payments for big ticket items. But by using it, I get percentages when buying food and other specific items, so I just run the card and pay it off immediately.