Are credit cards evil, or just dangerous?

sujate

I hate defending credit card companies.
It's like sticking up for used-car salesmen, or Congress. Saying anything nice makes you feel like a patsy, since their defects are so readily apparent.
But in the debate over whether credit cards are inherently evil, I must proclaim myself an advocate for the purported devils.
The idea that plastic is a snake in your wallet, tempting you to sin, is probably as old as the first Diners Club card (issued in 1950, if you care). Today, the more refined argument made by some attorneys is that credit cards are defective by their very design, a point that's argued in "Why it pays to leave home without it," by recent University of Illinois College of Law graduate Adam Goldstein. He argues that the cards are products, not services, and are designed specifically to take advantage of consumer vulnerabilities.
Most arguments against credit cards note, correctly, that it's easy to get in over your head with credit card debt. That's true for a variety of reasons, mainly:
Screening is lax. Are you breathing? Then chances are extremely good you can get a credit card, and another one, and another one . . . and oh, that credit limit is looking a little tight; let me raise that for you. Unlike most other lenders, credit card issuers don't pay that much attention to your income, employment history, level of financial sophistication or ability to handle the credit lines they're thrusting upon you. They're just counting on enough folks paying their bills to more than offset those who don't.

for more
http://creditcardevil.blogspot.com/

• 1 in 7 Americans carry 10 or more cards
• Credit cards for the desperate
• Credit cards that help you save
• Demand your FICO score now!
• Life without credit is tough and expensive

Browntoa

nice blog (not), whole list of google Adverts for credit cards and debt sites down the right hand side

and the whole things about the USA when this is a UK forum

Mozette

Monty Python would love this spam!
Are paracetomol evil because some people take overdoses? Misuse of most things can be harmful and unpleasant, misuse of MSE just gets you reported as a spammer!

oxocubes

They should be called debt cards because every time you use one you go further into debt.

Also regarding credit card companies "concern" over fraud. I was told over 40 years ago how to remove a signature from a card, the method still works today. It takes seconds using a widely available liquid.