A question from a perplexed non-US person — why do people get credit cards and use them and then pay for them when they have enough money on the account where they get their salary? Why go through credit cards and debts at all instead of just paying straight from that?
Credit cards in Canada and the US generally give you benefits. It isn't uncommon to get about 3% of your purchases back in various benefits. Sometimes direct cash off your bill sometimes hotels or flights, even insurance for purchases made on the card (example rental car insurance or phone insurance).
This money comes from the very high credit card fees which aren't added on to the price, so if you don't use credit cards you are basically leaving money on the table. This isn't as much of a thing elsewhere (I know in the EU) because credit card fees are much lower so the benefits passed to the consumer are minimal.
Additionally many cards give you more options for chargebacks than debit. So there is a level of safety when you are using your credit card especially for online purchases with unknown retailers.
Yet another reason is that credit score is very important in the US. Having a bunch of credit cards with large limits (even if you don't use them) that you pay off consistently is one of the easiest way to build a good credit score.
Debit cards often can't be used online.
Another outdated reason is that many debit cards had charges per-transactions, sometimes with a very low free allowance. However many banks now offer free debit card usage. Credit cards almost never have a per-transaction fee, and most have no fees at all (assuming you pay it off).
So all-in-all life becomes much more difficult if you don't have a credit card in Canada and the US. The card is less about the "credit" part for most people and just the way that people make payments.
In the UK credit cards have much better legal protection - you can essentially dispute any charge and no money will leave your actual account until they've proven that you authorised the charge. Whereas if you pay via debit card, direct debit, or cheque, then the money is removed from your account and while you can dispute the charge and will probably get the money back eventually, in the meantime your account is empty.
Pay with cash or debit card, and I pay $100 for $100.
Pay with a credit card, and I pay $98 for $100, plus if I spend the saved $2 on travel, it's actually worth more than $2. Plus other freebies for spending at least $X per year on the card.
In the US, I wish I could use one of my cash-back cards for literally everything.
And this is on a no-fee credit card! There are even better benefits available if you pay an annual fee.
