When it comes to making purchases and paying for it, it is more of a personal choices to choose your own method of payment. The various pros and cons of each method of payment are outlined below and in the end it only comes down to your personal choice.
CASH:
1. Cash is inconvenient when you are making big purchases because you need to carry more money in your purses.
2. Cash makes you aware of your spending since you can see your money going away physically and it makes you want to spend less.
3. Cash is accepted everywhere and most stores likes accepting them because then they don't have to pay credit card fees for accepting your cash payment. Sometimes stores gives you discount for paying in cash.
4. Cash if you lose it, it is lost and you can't do anything about it. Anyone picking up your lost cash, they can use it easily. Even if someone finds it and you seen them taking it, it is hard to prove that the cash is yours.
5. When purchasing things online, you can't use cash. Cash transaction only happens when the buyer and seller are together.
CREDIT CARDS:
1. Most credit cards comes with some kind of rewards and if you use your credit cards frequently, the Rewards does add up quickly and in no time, you will be redeeming your rewards. The saying goes that "Fools are those who pay with cash for purchases" when you could be earning great rewards, every time you make a purchase.
2. Credit cards are perfect for making big purchases in store or online while earning rewards at the same time.
3. If you lose your credit card, you don't need to worry so much as losing cash. You can simply call your credit card company and have then issue you a replacement one.
4. Credit card can be subjected to scam and fraud if someone gets hold of your credit card information. They can milk you of thousands of dollars withing a few days of purchases. The good thing is that with credit cards, a trail of transaction is left behind and it is easier for law enforcement to catch anyone who might have stole your credit card information and used it to make purchases.
5. Credit card helps you build your credit score. Just by simply using your credit card for daily purchases, you will build up a good credit score history. You need to make sure that you pay your credit card bills on time to get a good credit score. It may not sound important for you now, but when it comes to applying for house mortgage or personal loan or line of credit from the banks, the banks like to check your credit history score.
6. When making purchases online, credit card is almost the universally accepted method of payment online. It is easy to pay for online purchase using your credit card and you can make big purchases up to your credit card limit.
7. Some credit cards company gives you extended warranty for items purchased using their credit cards. This can be helpful if you want extended coverage warranty on products you purchased and doesn't want to pay for extra warranty period.
8. Credit card company charges high interest and you can easily go into debt if you can't afford to pay your credit card bills. So make sure that when you make purchases, you can afford to pay it up fully as soon as possible. Credit card allows you to make the minimum payment each month, so it won't go into credit collection agency damaging your credit score. You should however, know that every time you only make the minimum required payment on your credit card, interest is charged onto the remaining balance each month. It will take a very long time to pay off your credit card balance if you only pay the minimum required balance on your credit card statement.
APPLE PAY, ANDROID PAY:
Both of these form of payment are very similar to using a credit card. The only difference is that you are using your phone to pay for purchases. Apple Pay and Android Pay are linked to your credit card details account and every time a purchase is made with your phone using Apple Pay or Android Pay, the transactions and charges are shown in your monthly credit card statement. They are convenient to you if you own a smart phone and have data plans in place. If you don't have a smart phone or don't use ineternet data plan on your phone, you might not be able to pay with your phone.
DEBIT CARD:
Debit card are similar to using cash and they are less popular than the credit cards. You can make bigger purchase with debit card than with carrying cash. Debit cards are linked to your own bank account directly and when you make a purchase, the amount is deducted directly from your bank account. You can almost instantly see the amount deducted from your bank account. Debit cards usually don't have any rewards.
Some retail stores are reluctant to accept debit cards over cash because debit transaction by customers will cost them some fees too, even though the debit transaction fees are less than credit card fees for the store owner. Debit card are linked to your bank account and it allows you to withdraw money from your bank's ATM machine. So don't lose your debit cards or else professional scammers can get hold of your bank account details as well.
