Cash or Card: Which One Is More Convenient For Personal Finances?

Bank cards exist in our everyday life for quite a long time already. With mobile banking, you have access to your funds, expenses, incomes. Frankly saying, you can track your personal finances well.

On the other hand, many people still consider paying with cash as a more convenient and better way of spending and controlling your funds.

Cash or card, Which one is better? The answer is depended on who you ask.

Let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both methods and decide which one is more suitable for you.

Credit Card Advantages

let’s begin with the benefits of using a credit card or any bank card.

Accessibility

A credit card is a convenient way to carry a large amount of money. Instead of loads of cash, you are responsible for having a single card, easily suitable in your wallet and purse. Even if you are afraid of losing the card, you can simply attach it to your phone payment app and don’t even carry the card with you.

Spending Ability

credit cards allow you to purchase the desired items now and pay for them later when you receive the salary or any source of income.

You might not always carry considerable amounts of cash, and your spending ability will be limited in case of an emergency. However, a credit card gives you the freedom of spending. It allows you to spend what you have available. It provides you with extra purchasing power without the threats that come with carrying the same amount of cash.

Level of Protection

Federal laws and credit card fraud protection policies limit your liability for fraudulent charges on lost or stolen credit cards. If your card is stolen and used, you can easily track their transactions from your mobile bank app or simply call your bank and block the lost card. Your credit card issuer will usually send you a new credit card with a unique account number to replace the lost card. There is no equal protection when using cash. If your cash is stolen or your wallet is lost, you are out of luck no matter how much cash you carry.

When you use a credit card, you not only get fraud protection, but you can also prevent you from never receiving damaged items and items that were not delivered as promised. When there are problems with the products or services you buy with cash, your only option is to solve these problems directly with the merchant. If the merchant does not handle the situation to your satisfaction, the credit card allows you to dispute the transaction.

Rewards

Many credit cards provide rewards for your purchases. You can earn points for purchasing goods, hotel accommodations, airline miles, and cashback. If you have enough funds, shopping with a credit card may be worth making reward points-mainly if you pay for the credit card with cash used for investment.

Reward programs also apply to cash purchases, but they are usually retailer-specific and offer little benefit to other retailers. These types of reward programs typically take the form of a certain number of visits or free products or services after purchase.

Building Good Credit

Your credit score is an essential financial aspect of your life; it is how banks decide before providing loans and other services to you. If you need to borrow money to buy a house or car, rent an apartment, or even get a competitive auto insurance rate, good credit is necessary.

Unfortunately, buying all goods with cash does not help you build a credit score. The entire premise of credit scoring is based on how well you use credit, so you usually need a credit card to start building the “reputation.”

Retailer requirements

Some specific transactions, like renting a car,  booking a hotel or buying air tickets, require a bank card. Unfortunately, if you live only on cash, it will be tough to book these services.

With a credit card, you have the flexibility to order everything online, any time of the day. However, if you only use cash, making online transactions will be complicated, or in most cases, impossible.

However, picking cash over credit is still many people’s choice as they see cash payment more comfortable. Let’s discuss the cash benefits and later decide which one is the better option for you.

Cash Advantages

First of all, paying in cash reduces the chances of overspending. You cannot spend more than you have, meaning that there is no danger of spending and not being able to pay the bill later.

Cash also allows you to purchase goods from cash-only merchants.

Adaptability

Cash refers to your paper money and change. However, not all forms of cash are universally accepted. Stores generally do not carry personal checks as a payment method.

Although both debit card transactions and electronic funds transfers can get funds from your account, merchants may prefer one option.

Street shops, small markets, and traditional bazaars mostly prefer cash too, so if you decide to check out some local bazaars while traveling, it is always better to have cash with you.

Cost Savings

When you make payments for income taxes, utilities, or car registration, you may notice a convenience charge for using a credit or debit card.

In many cases, you can avoid this fee when using cash, check, or an electronic fund transfer. Note that some of these entities charge a convenience fee for the online payment service.

Furthermore, some merchants may promote a lowered price for cash payments. This practice is most prevalent at gas stations.

The merchant can pass the card processing fee onto the customer in some states. Usually, the charge ranges between 1% and 3.5%. Some states allow even up to 4%.

Thus, to sum up, If you regularly save 1% to 4% on your gas tank by paying in cash, those funds can add to your savings.

Finally, cash purchases do not include interests, so that you can add these small interest percents to your savings too.

 

Debt Reduction

If you have accumulated a large credit card balance, switching to cash may help you lower your debt.

Avoiding additional card purchases or making the minimum payments will help you reach your card balance quickly. The Federal Reserve reported an average interest rate of 16.28% for accounts carrying a balance. With the credit of $6,300 and this interest rate, you would pay approximately $50 per month in interest, which is pretty high.

Pay for the purchases with cash and avoid interest charges. Now, let’s look at the statistics on how people use cash and card.

Avoid the tracking

While using the bank card for significant transactions, it might attract attention. Hackers might even start tracking you and checking your activities. However, using cash eliminates all the followers of your possible big transactions, and you can guarantee your spending is not followed by third parties.

Statistics

Cash vs. credit card statistics shows that 80% of customers prefer paying with a card over cash.

75.7% of customers have at least one credit card. Around 189 million American adults hold at least one credit card, and only 10% of the customers make the purchases with cash.

Conclusion

Overall, most people agree that the cards are quick and flexible, easy-to-use, while cash has its own privileges. To conclude, we think cash still has its benefits and importance yet.

Cash prevents you from overspending, so maybe the smartest way to control your finances is to collaborate your cash and card usage.