[timv]

people really only use credit cards for online purchases or when they're already living beyond their means

If I'm parsing what you're saying correctly, then that doesn't match my experience.

Most people I know will use a credit card at an EFTPOS machine in preference to using their ATM card, and lots of people use the credit card regular because it's simpler than regularly getting cash from the ATM.

My current trip from Home -> Work does not go directly past any ATMs that are free for me (I pass a couple, but the ATM operator will charge me to use them), so I regularly buy everyday items on my credit card.

Heck, I buy my train ticket (a whole $6.60) on my credit card each morning because

1. it doesn't cost me any more than paying with cash

2. it saves me from having to worry about whether my wallet is empty, when my focus is on getting in to the office

Now, I also have a cheque book in a drawer somewhere, but I think the last time I used it would have been when about 3 years ago when I needed to give my parents some money and my Mum didn't have her bank account details with her (which would have allowed me to transfer it electronically)

[etfb]

Credit cards are still more expensive than debit cards, and in Australia any machine that can take the former will take the latter as well. Credit cards allow you to spend money you don't have, whereas debit cards don't.

[timv]

Sure, credit cards aren't a good product for every person, but your dismissal of them is fairly shallow.

Not all credit cards have annual fees, and those that do usually offer benefits to the card holder that the card holder has determined are worth the cost of the fee.

Interest is only charged if you don't pay your card off each month, and I have mine set up to pay automatically.

They do allow you to spend money you don't have, but they are also isolated from your savings account. My credit card limit is substantially lower than the amount of money in my bank account. A debit card on that account would mean that card fraud actually has an impact on my savings.

In addition in most cases, using a debit card over a credit card network (as opposed to EPTPOS) subjects you to the same rules as using a credit card - you can still end up spending money you don't have, and be liable for it. So your distinction between Credit and Debit cards is actually between credit card networks and the EFTPOS network.

All of which is unrelated to your original point that I was offering a counter-opinion to. Regardless of you personal views on the merits of credit cards, my experience is that Australians use credit cards for in store purchases more often than EFTPOS, and much more frequently than your suggestion of "when they're already living beyond their means".

[etfb]

One way to reconcile our views on this is the hypothesis that most Australians are living beyond their means...