Americans have become increasingly reliant on their credit cards since the pandemic. So much so that Capital One is willing to bet more than $30 billion that they won’t break the habit.
Capital One Financial announced Monday that it would buy Discover Financial Services for $35 billion. The combination could potentially shake up the payments industry, which is largely dominated by Visa and Mastercard.
For customers of the companies, it might eventually mean bigger perks and more merchant acceptance of Discover cards, and potentially lead to more competition in the payments industry. But most of the benefits will be going to the companies themselves, as well as the merchants who accept these cards.
I only use credit cards for this exact reason.
I don't use debit unless it's absolutely required. I've had issues where a business refused to refund me, and the bank will hold that money and it's literally off limits until the dispute is over. That can mess with a lot of things. Where a credit card, that's their money that they're fighting over. And I still have cash reserves.
I also pay it off in full every month, since I was 20. Never held debt. And the benefits is all the rewards. I think I make like $300 in cashback a year from my cards.