[solardev]

I have a longer reply in a sibling post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41276479), but basically, yeah... in the US we have very few consumer protections, so credit cards offer some of that in lieu of a functional government.

They also have much better protections against fraud (if someone steals your credit card and buys something with it, you're not liable... the bank will pay you back).

If you get scammed with a cash-equivalent (like our Zelle or Cash App or Venmo), too bad, there's no way to get your money back. I know people who've lost thousands of dollars that way, and nobody will protect you from that.

Credit cards here obviously charge high interests (and charge the merchants too) but they offer a lot of protections you otherwise wouldn't get.

[FireBeyond]

> in the US we have very few consumer protections

> If you get scammed with a cash-equivalent (like our Zelle

Fun fact: shifting a significant chunk of liability for fraud away from banks and onto consumers was in fact one of the design goals of Zelle for the banks.

[Aachen]

Getting scammed is a problem but it's not super common and the banks have a policy of refunding the money. Society bears the cost that way, and has the incentive to prevent and educate, rather than that it ruins some individual's life

[solardev]

The banks where you live, you mean? Here they won't care, once you send it, it's gone forever even if it was a scam.

[Aachen]

Exactly, in the context I mentioned in the post above