There are many reasons to use credit cards, and some of what you said is just not accurate:
- The vast majority (probably 95%+) of cards have rewards built in. Everything from miles to redeem on travel and accommodations to the most common being cash back credited against your account. These can range anywhere from 1% to 5% outside of special promotions where you typically get even more.
- They offer increased consumer protection in the form of warranties on items you buy in addition to the manufacturer's warranty.
- They offer increased consumer protection in the handling of charge backs, fraud prevention and being able to easily dispute charges (typically online).
- Of course if a card is stolen the number is invalidated and the physical card replaced - I don't know where you got the idea that this doesn't happen.
- None of this is at direct cost to the customer - assuming you pay off your statement balance prior to the due date, you are not charged interest and unless you have a card with an annual fee (most do not and if you have even decent credit it's trivial to upgrade to a card without one) all these features are free.
Then who do you think is paying for those rewards/cashbacks? Who is paying for the extra warranty? Who is paying for the costs of the chargebacks and the replacement of cards that get stolen by the millions?
The answer could be you, creditcard users who dont pay off in time, or people who use other payment methods. It certainly isn't the banks or the merchant who's paying all this.
Those benefits don't come without a cost though, and not just from cardholders who do carry a balance and pay interest. The merchant fees, chargebacks and other costs get tacked on to their COG.
- The vast majority (probably 95%+) of cards have rewards built in. Everything from miles to redeem on travel and accommodations to the most common being cash back credited against your account. These can range anywhere from 1% to 5% outside of special promotions where you typically get even more.
- They offer increased consumer protection in the form of warranties on items you buy in addition to the manufacturer's warranty.
- They offer increased consumer protection in the handling of charge backs, fraud prevention and being able to easily dispute charges (typically online).
- Of course if a card is stolen the number is invalidated and the physical card replaced - I don't know where you got the idea that this doesn't happen.
- None of this is at direct cost to the customer - assuming you pay off your statement balance prior to the due date, you are not charged interest and unless you have a card with an annual fee (most do not and if you have even decent credit it's trivial to upgrade to a card without one) all these features are free.