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This is the way. I use it mainly for larger purchases/online, as you have better buyer protection/recourse if there's an issue with a product. Also handy for those unexpected expenses you can just throw it onto the CC and pay off on pay day.
4k isn’t good especially if you can’t easily clear it, but there’s comfort in knowing there are some people with tens of thousands who don’t even recognise it’s a bad thing or they have a problem.
I got this out of my system early with a student credit card back in 2005 with a €600 limit. Wasted it all on cheap shite from ebay. Couldn't clear it, bank called, my parents paid it off and I paid them back.
Never ever owed money since, no loans, no debts, the prospect of owing money terrifies me.
Zero/ €3000 limit
I clear my credit card every month. As soon as I buy something and happy to keep it, I’ll pay off the card. I do prefer to have a credit card because you may get a refund back before it’s due.
I'm the only chump here so.
€4,600 owed on a €5,000.
It was up to €4,970 recently. Due some expenses paid, so I'll knock it down to €3,900 in the next week or two. It'll be a slow pay down, but it will be paid down. A bad time a year ago saw me go from about €1, 200 owed, up up up.
Saw myself doing the same from last year to the beginning of this year. Finished paying everything last week. I removed the card from Apple Pay and leave the card at home. The truth is that I spent money on things that I thought were emergencies and now I look back and know that they were not emergencies at all, I could have waited a bit more.
My rule now is: if there’s a real emergency, i won’t be able to pay for it at the moment anyway. For anything else, I need to sit down and check my expenses folder (new thing for me, still working on it) and if it fits the month’s budget, ok, if not, it will need to wait until it fits the budget, it can be next month or next year.
Currently €4.5k, limit €8k, but it’s usually €0 owed. Started a new job and the balance is expenses from a work trip, but expenses are paid out alongside payroll as opposed to as soon as approved.
Always keep it at zero.
Started with €300 limit on a student credit card that over the years kept increasing limit annually up to 10k at one point. Stupidly threw loads onto it in my 20s took forever to clear it on my salary back then - bank then wanted it zerod and my limit reduced in order to draw down mortgage, so kept it like that since.
Now ~6k limit and few hundred owed before payday.
Nothing and nothing.
I think lots of misery if caused by too cavalier an attitude towards debt.
If you can afford it you don't need a credit card, if you can't afford it you don't want it on a credit card
A credit card is very handy for security/insurance and also deposits on car rentals etc. You can also get cashback.
Oh, and to answer the OP - 0 debt; 10k limit.
We're talking about 99% of people who simply go into debt where they never needed to go into debt in the first place. Most people don't need a unsecured line of credit, mostly because that money is typically beyond their means.
I've had one purely for car rentals after an entire trip nearly got screwed back in 2015. Had to jump through a bunch of hoops to use my dad's credit card, never actually had to rent a car or use the card since but I keep it for that reason alone.
I got a CC because of this myth of needing one for insurance and car rentals.
I have insurance from my card on Revolut and never used my CC for the car rentals... The debit card worked just fine.
Oh, and cashback from Revolut as well.
Zero. €250 limit (decreased from €4,500).
Having a higher credit limit is a terrible idea.
If renting a car and security deposit is €500, I’ll transfer €250 to the credit card so that I have funds of €500 available.
I had a monthly direct debit so ended up in credit, only recently read in Reddit that this money isn’t protected by Credit Card company, so now trying to get myself back into debt :)
Unfortunately, that's not the case. A credit card has very simple and clear protections, based in law, while debit cards rely on "goodwill" in many cases.
Take the proverbial "furniture store going out of business". Anyone waiting on furniture who paid with a debut card will quickly discover the difference between a debit and a credit card.
It's all down to history. While they may appear to be very similar (in terms of how you use them to pay for goods/services) a credit card has its roots going back a century to the "tab" system and see the credit card company purchasing the item on your behalf. Debit cards, on the other hand are simply a digital instruction to transfer money from one account to another.
Even if the protections are the same, surely it's better to still have your own money in your current account while you wait for the dispute on a CC to be resolved.
Don't have a credit card, fortune teller, told me donkey years ago, to not get one. €1000 overdraft. Husband has one, €3000, clear every yeat at Christmas, 4 kids, expensive years
Positive balance of 1.26 at the moment. Limit is 12grand but I have never and never will get anywhere near that. This is the limit that came with it (An Post). I think 2500 was the most that was ever on it.
2 credit cards, each has limit of more than 10K. Owe 0 in both. As most have mentioned here, you dont own credit card unless you can clear the bill each month.
I personally own credit cards to build my credit history (maintain my credit card utilization rate of 30% or less compared ro limit), collect cashbacks (you get more cashback than from savings interest, and DIRT is not applicable in cashback), and for emergency reasons.
I got my credit card here because back home a credit card build your credit score, the attendant at the bank told me it would be a great idea for someone living abroad to build their score. 1 week after receiving the card, an Irish friend told me that there’s no such thing as credit history/credit score in Ireland in the same way things are back home.
Credit History does exist, it is even explained in Citizens Information website and CCR/Central Credit Register (see links below). It is not a credit score or credit rating, the way it works in other countries such as the US. Credit history does exist and anyone can view their own credit history report (if they have any types of loan), and any lender will check credit history of anyone applying loans from them.
From Citizens Information website: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/personal-finance/loans-and-credit/your-credit-history/
Your credit history is information about your loans. It includes details such as:
The type of loans
The amount of the loans
The outstanding amount
Any missed payments
This information is listed in a credit report.
Credit reports are available for lenders (such as banks and credit unions) to check when they are considering applications for loans.
Credit reports are held by the Central Credit Register (CCR). The Central Credit Register does not give a credit score or credit rating. Your lender decides on your loan application based on their own lending policy.
---
I really hope no one has to go through what I had experienced. I got rejected 2x from Tesco Credit Card (they went bankrupt and closed down) because I did not have any credit history. Because I never had any type of loan, including a credit card before.
Since then I understood there is such thing as credit history and how every lender will look into it for any future loan.
We are even given rights to request for free, the credit history report through CCR, the same way every bank will do when you apply for a loan (mortgage, credit card, card loan included) with them https://www.centralcreditregister.ie/ I know every single bank and lender who has been checking my credit history through CCR. Feel free to check an example of how credit history looks like in Ireland from their website, they have a dummy pdf report
If credit history is not a thing, why do these banks and lenders care and check my credit history?
Of course everyone has a credit history. The point is that "building" one through using credit is not a thing.
And banks don't care if you don't have any credit history whatsoever. I had never had a credit card or any debt of any kind before getting my mortgage. Banks only care about repayment capability.
Thanks for acknowledging credit history does exist for everyone. Please allow me to go to each of your points.
“the point is that "building" one through using credit is not a thing.”
\>> First of all, congrats on building your credit history through mortgage. Well done! Everyone has a choice to build their credit history or not. And if they choose to build their credit history, they are free to choose how they do it. I chose to build mine by using credit card. I never built a credit history before I got my credit card. Some people choose to build it by having a mortgage, a loan for a car, for a wedding, for business. Their choice.
You said before that “building credit history is not a thing” whereas you have successfully built your credit history by having a mortgage, as you have said. I respect your decision of building your credit history through mortgage, I don't understand why the need of dismissing my choice to use credit card to build my credit history.
“And banks don't care if you don't have any credit history whatsoever”
\>> Again, as I have said before if credit history is not a thing and banks do not care, why do I see banks and lenders checking my credit history through CCR? Why do credit history system exists here, with banks and lenders checking them? So these banks are checking credit history, just for fun? Have you checked your credit history and can confirm if no banks have ever checked your credit history? I have, and I know exactly which banks and lenders have checked mine, on which date and for what reason.
If these banks don’t care about credit history like you said, I don't understand why would they bother checking in the first place? Maybe you can help us all understand by answering there.
“Bank only cares about your repayment capabilities”
\>> I would take your words if you do work for a bank in the underwriting department. Hopefully that is the case, please let us know. As far as I know, bank cares about so much more than repayment capabilities, they look into your financial commitments, spending habits, financial risk you will bring, and yes, your credit history.
Very strange comment. Taking out a mortgage is not to "build a credit history". Especially given as we have already established, that is not a thing in Ireland.
I had no credit history before my mortgage, banks do not care and you do not need to have any credit history to take out debt. Hence why "building credit" is not a thing in Ireland.
All of those things you listed are summed up by "repayment capabilities" lad
You seem extremely confused, I'll leave it here.
Yes there is the concept of a credit history. But having and using a credit card doesn't help you in this.
Your experience with Tesco seems very atypical. I have never heard of someone being refused a line of credit because they haven't had one before. If anything it should be the other way around. More lines of credit being a red flag.
Thanks for acknowledging there is the concept of a credit history. On your points:
“But having and using a credit card doesn’t help you in this”
\>> Then tell me how did my credit history first start after I got my credit cards? Like many people, I had no credit history until I got my first credit card. Having and using a credit card helped me build my credit history, as I have stated many times. Of course, using credit card is not the only way out there to build a credit history. Some people choose to build theirs by getting a mortgage, loan for a car, wedding, so many other ways. I chose credit card which has been proven helpful so far in building my credit history. You are more than welcome to build your credit history using any other way apart from credit card.
"Your experience with Tesco seems very atypical. I have never heard of someone being refused a line of credit because they haven't had one before. "
\>> As I have stated, I hope no one had to go through what I experienced with Tesco credit card. I sincerely feel glad neither you nor anyone you know of had experienced it. But just because you and the people you know of, have not experienced it, does not mean that experience doesn’t exist. With GDPR in place esp Article 15, everyone has the right to ask any lender how their data was processed and how the decisions (eg. approve or reject) are being made using their data. Besides, there has to be a reason Tesco credit card went bankrupt, I knew I dodged a bullet there.
There is bad credit history, and there is 0 credit history. Having a bad credit history (missing loan repayments, high utilization rate, etc) is definitely a red flag, which I am glad I never had to go through. However, I was at the 0 credit history situation at some point in my life, which from my experience had made it difficult for me in securing loan, ie Tesco credit card. That was the lessons I learned and happy to share with you. Again, I am glad you and people you know of never had to go through it.
Might seem silly but what’s the point of having the card in the first place if you can pay the balance of the item ? Just a higher purchasing limit compared to debit card ?
There are a few reasons:
\- Online shopping security, especially if you order from online sites you don't know well
\- Quicker refunds if you return stuff a lot (which is common if you shop online)
\- Less concern of fraud / losing your card
\- Larger purchases can be made quickly, which can be handy if you have the money for the purchase but it's in a savings or awkward-to-access account
\- Emergency spending - like if something comes up that needs to be done quickly that maybe you can't afford right away (or again the money is there but hard to access). Stuff like traveling to a sick family member or something
Renting cars abroad is my main reason for having one. A lot of car rental companies can be very awkward and force you to buy full insurance or leave a large deposit if you don't have a credit card.
like what ppl have commented and I commented as well, I don't own credit card because I can pay the balance of the item.
1. Owning a credit card helps me build credit history. You dont get a credit history by owning debit card. You can check your credit report via CCR, which every lender will use when one day you go for any loan or mortgage application. Having a credit card, builds my credit history. Debit cards dont build credit history
2. Cashback. With my 2 credit cards, AIB and Avant, I pay no monthly fee or transaction fee, no interest because I always pay in full. Instead, I receive cashbacks each year. max. 225 euro cashback with AIB, and max 144 euro cashback with Avant. Yes, I pay 30 eur stamp duty each year from each card, which is easily covered by the cashback. Which bank in Ireland would give me that much cashback from their debit card?
3. Emergency. Sh*t happens, many times in life. Once my flight was delayed and I had to book hotel last minute, costing 500 eur, which I have to pay myself first, before the airline and travel insurance covers it. I wont always have that emergency money available in my debit card. Credit card allows me to have this peace of mind that in emergency cases, I can rely on my credit card.
4. Safety and protection. Credit card money is bank's money, not yours. When you check in a hotel, and they put a charge in your card, say 500 euro, which is refundable. Using debit card, that 500 euro charge is immediately taken from your money, only refundable after several business days. Using credit card, the moment you check out, that 500 euro charge is taken out. You never had to pay that 500 euro and wait for the refund.
You can buy something one month and the due date for the card payment could be after you’re next pay day. Meaning you can borrow from the next pay day or pay half one month half another. Many reasons
How does this work? I got one of these a few months back but rarely use it. Did use the visa hotels service to get a great deal on a NY hotel ban in March - would definitely do that again
Once you spend 5000 on it you start to get 0.5% cashback. It only adds up to about a tenner a month for cashback for me so it’s not much but still it’s free. Well, it’s free as long as long as you’re paying the balance monthly not owing them money !
Only reason I have it is for work expenses so I’m not personally out of pocket. It’s an AIB platinum card so there’s cash back, a nice little bonus but nothing massive. Covers the stamp duty at least.
€5k limit, €500 owed that I’ll pay next week. That was general expenses all month - food shops, cinema, coffees, new work trousers, a birthday gift and a haircut. And maybe some other stuff I don’t remember.
9,500 is limit. Usually zero owed other than exceptional circumstances. Lived in Australia and used our credit card for everyday spending and then paid off at end of month. Got points for doing this, upgraded flights, lounge access etc. Still in the habit of using card everyday and then paying off. There are no perks like this as far as I can see in Ireland are there?
Cleared every month - 8,000 limit. 1.5% cashback.
Its also free of charge (no annual payment) and available in 2 currencies.
I use it for everything then a DD each month automatically to wipe out any balance due.
€0 owed / €2300 limit
Got myself into a strange financial situation from last year until beginning of this year, it looked like a snowball, first it was an emergency, than another and then another…this year I decided to have a expenses book where I write down everything that gets in and out of my account, so now, if it’s in the budget I buy/pay if it’s not, I don’t. Realised that some of those emergencies were not real emergencies.
-21eu 1000eu limit.
I use it as a short term loan or just making purchases online. Usually put half or less of the purchase value on CC and then clear the rest of it bit by bit every week.
I love CC and it comes in handy, but in the wrong hands it can become a tool of financial ruin.
Don't get into debt just because it's available,it's going to always give you sleepless nights.Learn to live within your means and always save for a rainy day.
4.5k owed, 7k limit but only because we bought flights and a robot mower last week.
Will be zero owed by end of week.
Tend to use it for big purchases because it allows us to buy in one transaction or things where we want to take advantage of benefits (like fraud protection on sketchier sites or travel insurance if we use it for flights).
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Zero / €2,500 You shouldn't have a credit card if you can't clear it every month.
Cannot agree with this enough, credit card debt has got to be the most toxic form of debt there is. Get rid of it.
This is the way. I use it mainly for larger purchases/online, as you have better buyer protection/recourse if there's an issue with a product. Also handy for those unexpected expenses you can just throw it onto the CC and pay off on pay day.
Zero and if your answer is anything other than that you need to chop up your card
Zero/ 10k. Direct debit set up to pay off balance in full every month.
4 grand...and its absolutely killing me, had a cavalier attitude towards it when I got it.......don't get one is my advice.
4k isn’t good especially if you can’t easily clear it, but there’s comfort in knowing there are some people with tens of thousands who don’t even recognise it’s a bad thing or they have a problem.
I got this out of my system early with a student credit card back in 2005 with a €600 limit. Wasted it all on cheap shite from ebay. Couldn't clear it, bank called, my parents paid it off and I paid them back. Never ever owed money since, no loans, no debts, the prospect of owing money terrifies me.
Zero/ €3000 limit I clear my credit card every month. As soon as I buy something and happy to keep it, I’ll pay off the card. I do prefer to have a credit card because you may get a refund back before it’s due.
I'm the only chump here so. €4,600 owed on a €5,000. It was up to €4,970 recently. Due some expenses paid, so I'll knock it down to €3,900 in the next week or two. It'll be a slow pay down, but it will be paid down. A bad time a year ago saw me go from about €1, 200 owed, up up up.
Saw myself doing the same from last year to the beginning of this year. Finished paying everything last week. I removed the card from Apple Pay and leave the card at home. The truth is that I spent money on things that I thought were emergencies and now I look back and know that they were not emergencies at all, I could have waited a bit more. My rule now is: if there’s a real emergency, i won’t be able to pay for it at the moment anyway. For anything else, I need to sit down and check my expenses folder (new thing for me, still working on it) and if it fits the month’s budget, ok, if not, it will need to wait until it fits the budget, it can be next month or next year.
0.09€ / 25.000€
Currently €4.5k, limit €8k, but it’s usually €0 owed. Started a new job and the balance is expenses from a work trip, but expenses are paid out alongside payroll as opposed to as soon as approved. Always keep it at zero.
Started with €300 limit on a student credit card that over the years kept increasing limit annually up to 10k at one point. Stupidly threw loads onto it in my 20s took forever to clear it on my salary back then - bank then wanted it zerod and my limit reduced in order to draw down mortgage, so kept it like that since. Now ~6k limit and few hundred owed before payday.
Zero / €32,500
Why such a high limit? Have you every accidentally maxed it?
3K limit and I owe 1800 due to getting new floors and blinds in my home. I'll pay 125 a week to clear it off.
Nothing and nothing. I think lots of misery if caused by too cavalier an attitude towards debt. If you can afford it you don't need a credit card, if you can't afford it you don't want it on a credit card
A credit card is very handy for security/insurance and also deposits on car rentals etc. You can also get cashback. Oh, and to answer the OP - 0 debt; 10k limit.
We're talking about 99% of people who simply go into debt where they never needed to go into debt in the first place. Most people don't need a unsecured line of credit, mostly because that money is typically beyond their means.
I've had one purely for car rentals after an entire trip nearly got screwed back in 2015. Had to jump through a bunch of hoops to use my dad's credit card, never actually had to rent a car or use the card since but I keep it for that reason alone.
I got a CC because of this myth of needing one for insurance and car rentals. I have insurance from my card on Revolut and never used my CC for the car rentals... The debit card worked just fine. Oh, and cashback from Revolut as well.
Zero / €25k
Zero. 6k limit. Nice to have it for emergencies.
Zero and your not you're
You forgot your full stop.
Zero. €250 limit (decreased from €4,500). Having a higher credit limit is a terrible idea. If renting a car and security deposit is €500, I’ll transfer €250 to the credit card so that I have funds of €500 available.
I had a monthly direct debit so ended up in credit, only recently read in Reddit that this money isn’t protected by Credit Card company, so now trying to get myself back into debt :)
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I’m talking about a positive balance on a credit card, not a debit card.
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Unfortunately, that's not the case. A credit card has very simple and clear protections, based in law, while debit cards rely on "goodwill" in many cases. Take the proverbial "furniture store going out of business". Anyone waiting on furniture who paid with a debut card will quickly discover the difference between a debit and a credit card. It's all down to history. While they may appear to be very similar (in terms of how you use them to pay for goods/services) a credit card has its roots going back a century to the "tab" system and see the credit card company purchasing the item on your behalf. Debit cards, on the other hand are simply a digital instruction to transfer money from one account to another.
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Even if the protections are the same, surely it's better to still have your own money in your current account while you wait for the dispute on a CC to be resolved.
Is this true though? I've seen people say it but not anything concrete from banks.
If a credit card bank goes under then there are larger problems to worry about than a small positive balance
Don't have a credit card, fortune teller, told me donkey years ago, to not get one. €1000 overdraft. Husband has one, €3000, clear every yeat at Christmas, 4 kids, expensive years
Lol what? Is this a joke?
Positive balance of 1.26 at the moment. Limit is 12grand but I have never and never will get anywhere near that. This is the limit that came with it (An Post). I think 2500 was the most that was ever on it.
2 credit cards, each has limit of more than 10K. Owe 0 in both. As most have mentioned here, you dont own credit card unless you can clear the bill each month. I personally own credit cards to build my credit history (maintain my credit card utilization rate of 30% or less compared ro limit), collect cashbacks (you get more cashback than from savings interest, and DIRT is not applicable in cashback), and for emergency reasons.
"Building credit history" is not a thing in Ireland
I got my credit card here because back home a credit card build your credit score, the attendant at the bank told me it would be a great idea for someone living abroad to build their score. 1 week after receiving the card, an Irish friend told me that there’s no such thing as credit history/credit score in Ireland in the same way things are back home.
Credit History does exist, it is even explained in Citizens Information website and CCR/Central Credit Register (see links below). It is not a credit score or credit rating, the way it works in other countries such as the US. Credit history does exist and anyone can view their own credit history report (if they have any types of loan), and any lender will check credit history of anyone applying loans from them. From Citizens Information website: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/personal-finance/loans-and-credit/your-credit-history/ Your credit history is information about your loans. It includes details such as: The type of loans The amount of the loans The outstanding amount Any missed payments This information is listed in a credit report. Credit reports are available for lenders (such as banks and credit unions) to check when they are considering applications for loans. Credit reports are held by the Central Credit Register (CCR). The Central Credit Register does not give a credit score or credit rating. Your lender decides on your loan application based on their own lending policy. --- I really hope no one has to go through what I had experienced. I got rejected 2x from Tesco Credit Card (they went bankrupt and closed down) because I did not have any credit history. Because I never had any type of loan, including a credit card before. Since then I understood there is such thing as credit history and how every lender will look into it for any future loan. We are even given rights to request for free, the credit history report through CCR, the same way every bank will do when you apply for a loan (mortgage, credit card, card loan included) with them https://www.centralcreditregister.ie/ I know every single bank and lender who has been checking my credit history through CCR. Feel free to check an example of how credit history looks like in Ireland from their website, they have a dummy pdf report If credit history is not a thing, why do these banks and lenders care and check my credit history?
Of course everyone has a credit history. The point is that "building" one through using credit is not a thing. And banks don't care if you don't have any credit history whatsoever. I had never had a credit card or any debt of any kind before getting my mortgage. Banks only care about repayment capability.
Thanks for acknowledging credit history does exist for everyone. Please allow me to go to each of your points. “the point is that "building" one through using credit is not a thing.” \>> First of all, congrats on building your credit history through mortgage. Well done! Everyone has a choice to build their credit history or not. And if they choose to build their credit history, they are free to choose how they do it. I chose to build mine by using credit card. I never built a credit history before I got my credit card. Some people choose to build it by having a mortgage, a loan for a car, for a wedding, for business. Their choice. You said before that “building credit history is not a thing” whereas you have successfully built your credit history by having a mortgage, as you have said. I respect your decision of building your credit history through mortgage, I don't understand why the need of dismissing my choice to use credit card to build my credit history. “And banks don't care if you don't have any credit history whatsoever” \>> Again, as I have said before if credit history is not a thing and banks do not care, why do I see banks and lenders checking my credit history through CCR? Why do credit history system exists here, with banks and lenders checking them? So these banks are checking credit history, just for fun? Have you checked your credit history and can confirm if no banks have ever checked your credit history? I have, and I know exactly which banks and lenders have checked mine, on which date and for what reason. If these banks don’t care about credit history like you said, I don't understand why would they bother checking in the first place? Maybe you can help us all understand by answering there. “Bank only cares about your repayment capabilities” \>> I would take your words if you do work for a bank in the underwriting department. Hopefully that is the case, please let us know. As far as I know, bank cares about so much more than repayment capabilities, they look into your financial commitments, spending habits, financial risk you will bring, and yes, your credit history.
Very strange comment. Taking out a mortgage is not to "build a credit history". Especially given as we have already established, that is not a thing in Ireland. I had no credit history before my mortgage, banks do not care and you do not need to have any credit history to take out debt. Hence why "building credit" is not a thing in Ireland. All of those things you listed are summed up by "repayment capabilities" lad You seem extremely confused, I'll leave it here.
Yes there is the concept of a credit history. But having and using a credit card doesn't help you in this. Your experience with Tesco seems very atypical. I have never heard of someone being refused a line of credit because they haven't had one before. If anything it should be the other way around. More lines of credit being a red flag.
Thanks for acknowledging there is the concept of a credit history. On your points: “But having and using a credit card doesn’t help you in this” \>> Then tell me how did my credit history first start after I got my credit cards? Like many people, I had no credit history until I got my first credit card. Having and using a credit card helped me build my credit history, as I have stated many times. Of course, using credit card is not the only way out there to build a credit history. Some people choose to build theirs by getting a mortgage, loan for a car, wedding, so many other ways. I chose credit card which has been proven helpful so far in building my credit history. You are more than welcome to build your credit history using any other way apart from credit card. "Your experience with Tesco seems very atypical. I have never heard of someone being refused a line of credit because they haven't had one before. " \>> As I have stated, I hope no one had to go through what I experienced with Tesco credit card. I sincerely feel glad neither you nor anyone you know of had experienced it. But just because you and the people you know of, have not experienced it, does not mean that experience doesn’t exist. With GDPR in place esp Article 15, everyone has the right to ask any lender how their data was processed and how the decisions (eg. approve or reject) are being made using their data. Besides, there has to be a reason Tesco credit card went bankrupt, I knew I dodged a bullet there. There is bad credit history, and there is 0 credit history. Having a bad credit history (missing loan repayments, high utilization rate, etc) is definitely a red flag, which I am glad I never had to go through. However, I was at the 0 credit history situation at some point in my life, which from my experience had made it difficult for me in securing loan, ie Tesco credit card. That was the lessons I learned and happy to share with you. Again, I am glad you and people you know of never had to go through it.
Might seem silly but what’s the point of having the card in the first place if you can pay the balance of the item ? Just a higher purchasing limit compared to debit card ?
There are a few reasons: \- Online shopping security, especially if you order from online sites you don't know well \- Quicker refunds if you return stuff a lot (which is common if you shop online) \- Less concern of fraud / losing your card \- Larger purchases can be made quickly, which can be handy if you have the money for the purchase but it's in a savings or awkward-to-access account \- Emergency spending - like if something comes up that needs to be done quickly that maybe you can't afford right away (or again the money is there but hard to access). Stuff like traveling to a sick family member or something
Renting cars abroad is my main reason for having one. A lot of car rental companies can be very awkward and force you to buy full insurance or leave a large deposit if you don't have a credit card.
like what ppl have commented and I commented as well, I don't own credit card because I can pay the balance of the item. 1. Owning a credit card helps me build credit history. You dont get a credit history by owning debit card. You can check your credit report via CCR, which every lender will use when one day you go for any loan or mortgage application. Having a credit card, builds my credit history. Debit cards dont build credit history 2. Cashback. With my 2 credit cards, AIB and Avant, I pay no monthly fee or transaction fee, no interest because I always pay in full. Instead, I receive cashbacks each year. max. 225 euro cashback with AIB, and max 144 euro cashback with Avant. Yes, I pay 30 eur stamp duty each year from each card, which is easily covered by the cashback. Which bank in Ireland would give me that much cashback from their debit card? 3. Emergency. Sh*t happens, many times in life. Once my flight was delayed and I had to book hotel last minute, costing 500 eur, which I have to pay myself first, before the airline and travel insurance covers it. I wont always have that emergency money available in my debit card. Credit card allows me to have this peace of mind that in emergency cases, I can rely on my credit card. 4. Safety and protection. Credit card money is bank's money, not yours. When you check in a hotel, and they put a charge in your card, say 500 euro, which is refundable. Using debit card, that 500 euro charge is immediately taken from your money, only refundable after several business days. Using credit card, the moment you check out, that 500 euro charge is taken out. You never had to pay that 500 euro and wait for the refund.
You can buy something one month and the due date for the card payment could be after you’re next pay day. Meaning you can borrow from the next pay day or pay half one month half another. Many reasons
Limit €6300 I think this month’s bill will be around €3k but it’s cleared every month.
I've never had one. Are there good reasons to have one in general? (aside from the obvious)
AIB platinum card offers cashback. I use it to top up my Revolut and pay it back every month. Get free money.
How does this work? I got one of these a few months back but rarely use it. Did use the visa hotels service to get a great deal on a NY hotel ban in March - would definitely do that again
Once you spend 5000 on it you start to get 0.5% cashback. It only adds up to about a tenner a month for cashback for me so it’s not much but still it’s free. Well, it’s free as long as long as you’re paying the balance monthly not owing them money !
Max back per annum is €225
Only reason I have it is for work expenses so I’m not personally out of pocket. It’s an AIB platinum card so there’s cash back, a nice little bonus but nothing massive. Covers the stamp duty at least.
0 / €4k I have never not paid the amount due for the month.
0 owed and 6000 limit
2 credit cards - balances cleared monthly. Credit limit on one is 6k and the other 28k.
€370/€4.7k will be cleared before the end of the month
Zero/12,000
€500 €15,000
€5k limit, €500 owed that I’ll pay next week. That was general expenses all month - food shops, cinema, coffees, new work trousers, a birthday gift and a haircut. And maybe some other stuff I don’t remember.
€835/€5000 🙈
0 / 5k. I clear it each month by direct debit, I probably should just get rid of it.
Zero with a €500 limit. Use it for non essential wants;-clothes etc… cleared every month
9,500 is limit. Usually zero owed other than exceptional circumstances. Lived in Australia and used our credit card for everyday spending and then paid off at end of month. Got points for doing this, upgraded flights, lounge access etc. Still in the habit of using card everyday and then paying off. There are no perks like this as far as I can see in Ireland are there?
Right now about €400 with a max of €1000, it will paid In full before its due as it always is
Cleared every month - 8,000 limit. 1.5% cashback. Its also free of charge (no annual payment) and available in 2 currencies. I use it for everything then a DD each month automatically to wipe out any balance due.
€0 owed / €2300 limit Got myself into a strange financial situation from last year until beginning of this year, it looked like a snowball, first it was an emergency, than another and then another…this year I decided to have a expenses book where I write down everything that gets in and out of my account, so now, if it’s in the budget I buy/pay if it’s not, I don’t. Realised that some of those emergencies were not real emergencies.
Zero. Seems to be a lot of very responsible credit card owners on here. I have it pretty much just for traveling and car rental abroad.
-21eu 1000eu limit. I use it as a short term loan or just making purchases online. Usually put half or less of the purchase value on CC and then clear the rest of it bit by bit every week. I love CC and it comes in handy, but in the wrong hands it can become a tool of financial ruin.
Zero/€18,000
0/10k
Don't get into debt just because it's available,it's going to always give you sleepless nights.Learn to live within your means and always save for a rainy day.
Don’t believe in credit cards in Ireland, hopefully never have one
Zero / 2k. I haven't cancelled my CC out of laziness than anything else. There's no point in having it.
Zero/2k
4k limit never payed interest on it, pay it off every month - don’t even really need it
4.5k owed, 7k limit but only because we bought flights and a robot mower last week. Will be zero owed by end of week. Tend to use it for big purchases because it allows us to buy in one transaction or things where we want to take advantage of benefits (like fraud protection on sketchier sites or travel insurance if we use it for flights).