AIBU to have never had a credit card?

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Has anyone else never had a credit card? I have literally never had one. Surely I’m not the only one?

Edited to add- I’m in Ireland so the “extra protection” they provide in the uk under section 75, does not apply here

Not great cashback incentives really but I’m looking.

I will always buy big purchases with it. We got our money back after buying a dishwasher and the company went bust.

It’s 6.50 a month

I’ve never had one either OP, I’m in my 40s. Had no problem getting a mortgage (now paid off) or a mobile phone contract which I think are the only things I ever been credit checked for.

Ive never owned one and never will.

OP what’s the point in the question?

You haven’t got one and never suffered any issues and there is sounding like zero benefit to you getting one.

Therefore why bother wasting time asking? There must be a point an it can’t be “out of interest” as it’s not really that interesting when you can’t/wont change your personal situation in owning one as no benefit.

You have to manage it correctly and pay off fully by the due date every month. When I was working all my work expenses (hotels, meals and travel etc) were put on a card and my employer would have reimbursed me before the bill was due. Currently it makes it essentially gives me an extra £1K+ in a high interest account, agreed only about £50 a year in interest, but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.I can also pay large bills, car service, dentist etc, then have time to decide where the money to pay them is going to come from.

I'm 42 and DH is 43. Neither of us have ever had one. It's on our list of life admin things to get in the coming weeks/months.

I managed for 45 years without but then needed one for a hire car on holiday, so I took out a Barclaycard. Now I use it when I'm buying stuff online from sites that I've not used before - I've found it far easier to cancel the card and get my money back if the details get stolen than with my debit card.

Not that I make a habit of buying from dodgy sites, but when you first buy something from somewhere online, you can never be TOTALLY sure, can you?

I'm 48 and have never had one. I use my debit card for everything? Recently checked my credit score and it was great so unsure why I would need one.

Someone may have said already, but apart from credit rating it's generally harder to rent a car without one.

I have never had one, neither has DH. My parents never had one either. If we can't afford something we don't buy it,( apart from mortgage on house). I understand that other people have them for various reasons, but you are certainly not alone OP.

YANBU

You're welcome, keep polishing your shiny little halo!

I haven't got a credit card and never have had one (age 49, live in London).
I don't feel that I'm missing out in any way and have no urge to get one, but I understand why some people like to have them.

Not unreasonable. But probably unusual, now more and more places only accept cards.
Or do you have a debit card, it’s just the temptation of over-spending that bothers you?

I have never had one, or an overdraft. My husband has one for purchases such as flights but only when we have the money to pay for the flights outright.

Credit makes billions a year and that includes credit cards. All that protection and cash back and points is paid for by those that can not pay it off each month for whatever reason. Some of it is essential spending, some reckless spending, some addictive spending and some just spending to avoid another month of denying your children what they are asking for or avoid a miserable Christmas. But then the spiral starts and it's hard to get out of. So if you are anyway vulnerable to any of that don't have one. We didn't have one when we were vulnerable to giving in to spending on the children beyond budget. We never had issues with mortgages or car loans or overdraft applications, so you don't need them to get other credit.
The only issue we ever had was renting a car and a couple of hotels wanting to pre approve a card for potential bills. Small price to pay if you are anyway susceptible to over spending for whatever reason.

I didn’t have one for years. But it meant my credit rating was poor. I have one now but I always pay in full asap.

This is BS and always gets spouted incorrectly on these threads. Credit cards are largely profitable due to the transaction fees put on merchants, not off the back of interest paid by struggling customers.

I’ve never had a credit card. My mum took out like a child’s card for me linked to her credit card when I was a student just so I always had it in case of some sort of emergency. I also used to book all her travel for her as she was nervous doing it herself and I’d pay with that card. Or when she’d come to visit, staying in a holiday cottage, I’d do a Tesco order for her. I’ve never had a card of my own though. I’m 45. I’ve never needed one. If I needed to buy something, I’d just pay for it or Dh and I would take money out of savings. Only debt I have is my mortgage, no car finance, etc.

I'm afraid you're incorrect in spite of your sure tone.

"Around 70% of credit card revenue comes from interest"

https://www.cardswitcher.co.uk/business-model-behind-credit-cards/

Well you are wrong, despite you saying it's BS. UK households owe around 78 billion in credit card debt and pay around 17 billion a year in interest to financial institutions for the privilege of carrying this debt. Do a quick Google of government stats and come back and correct your inaccurate accusations and apologise to me. 😀
And, as per usual, the debt is disproportionate to lower income households who can't afford to manage all the benefits and have direct debts pay off balance from money in high interest. Compounded interest at 22 to 30 percent cripple them. They aren't using credit cards for cashback or airlines.

It's very expensive being poor.

Exactly the same for me and my DH. Use in rotation and for large purchases but always paid off in full.
They are also for me a sort of safety net so if I desperately need the money i know it's there on the cards.
Do you have PayPal ? as that is really good now. It has loads of different options since it broke away from ebay.

I don’t get why it’s seen as so bad tbh even if you use it for something you can’t pay for right now

example we had a once in a lifetime opportunity when I was on maternity leave September 2024 that husband got a sabbatical and we had time (we never have time) so we went to Asia for a few months and paid for a chunk on credit card as we didn’t have the money upfront (we didn’t use it for spending when abroad - but flights and some accommodation was put on the credit card!)

we came back owing something like 6k

zero regrets it was amazing

its nearly paid off now we just set up a direct debit of 150£ each a month once we were back in work (tore the card up an set the direct debits up and just forgot about it as it was being chipped away at) interest free credit card so not paying back anymore than we paid 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️