# Most common way of payment **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617 "2019-10-11T03:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/22 "2019-10-11T17:32:04Z")
> [@campp](#): > > We use CC for anything we can that costs more than $10. This kicks back to us as 1.5%. Hundreds of dollars annually. > > A few utilities are direct withdrawal. That’s because it is the cheapest way to pay those particular bills (No cc allowed on those, such as electric bill). > > I average 1.5 checks per month. One always for the CC bill. Then, sometimes an odd check for whatever. > > I have never used a debit card in my life. This system works for us at this point in our lives. This is me, except I don’t pay my credit card bill with a check. I pay all my bills on line through my bank. The only checks I can remember in the past year were the ones for taxes and to my dentist (who gives me a 5% discount if I use cash or check and I don’t like carrying large amounts of cash around). Life is a lot simpler and I also get a lot of cash back; why wouldn’t I do that? Capitol One lets you choose how you get your cash back and I choose to apply it back to the credit card bill. Simple. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/23 "2019-10-11T17:48:37Z")
Day to day stuff I am mostly cash; credit for bigger things sometimes. Debit I don’t use because I am horrible at keeping track and balancing everything and the last time I wrote a physical check was while President Obama was still in office. But really most of my money is handled automatically by direct deposit/transfers. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/24 "2019-10-11T18:11:58Z")
I’ll pay with my phone whenever I can. Baring that, my debit card comes next. Credit at times depending on what it is (Amazon card on Amazon for the points, etc) ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/25 "2019-10-11T19:00:09Z")
For me the debit card is the big winner, for virtually all of my day-to-day transactions. (I might use a credit card instead but I’ve never owned one.) I spend cash very infrequently, maybe one time every few months. I use checks only to pay my rent, so once a month. I use bank-instigated bill pay to pay bills I get in the mail, so around four times a month. All of this is dwarfed by my near-daily card payments. ETA: I also don’t have a cell phone, so no payments that way! ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/26 "2019-10-11T19:02:46Z")
Anything possible through credit card for the cash back. Hundreds of dollars a year. No reason not to. Wish I could pay my rent with credit card because I’d immediately save myself another $20 a month. Everything else still comes into play, but only when I can’t use credit cards as an option. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/27 "2019-10-11T19:37:45Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > Wish I could pay my rent with credit card because I’d immediately save myself another $20 a month. My old apartment complex allowed credit card payments, and yes, I did rack up a ton of points by paying rent with a credit card. I wish I was allowed to pay my mortgage with a credit card for exactly that reason. In terms of the frequency I take it out of my wallet, I use my debit card most often, for stuff like groceries, restaurants, gas, etc. I use my credit card for big ticket items, online purchases, and all the bills that will allow it are auto-charged to it. I really should use it more often for everyday stuff just for the cash back, but I still use debit for most stuff partly just out of habit, and partly because I just prefer having the money deducted from my account at the time of purchase rather than having to pay a big bill at the end of the month. Yeah, logically I know I’m spending the exact same amount either way, but there’s some psychological reason I just prefer debit. And the gas station I frequent gives you a discount for paying with debit or cash which is probably worth more than the cash back I’d get by paying with credit. I am starting to use mobile payments more often. I’ve gotten to the habit of using Apple Pay at Trader Joe’s, but not most other places for some reason. And Target doesn’t accept Apple Pay, but they have their own app that you can link your Red Card, so I always use that there. I still use cash some places, mostly farmers markets and food trucks. Many of those vendors accept cards now using those tablet/smartphone based systems, but I like to pay cash anyway since being small businesses it’s a bigger hit for them to have to pay the processing fees. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/28 "2019-10-11T19:46:26Z")
Primarily CC, with 2% back. I travel a lot and my travel expenses often exceed $4K/month. It’s nice to get a bonus of $80-$100 back. It is not at all unusual for me to leave town for a week and go the entire five days without a single dollar or coin in my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/29 "2019-10-11T22:15:34Z")
Contactless debit card. Contactless payment facilities are near-ubiquitous in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/30 "2019-10-11T23:29:49Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > Contactless debit card. Contactless payment facilities are near-ubiquitous in the UK. Yup, Londoner here and I very rarely use cash anymore. Contactless almost every time. For online payments though i prefer PayPal. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/31 "2019-10-11T23:30:30Z")
CC or automatic bank deduction (that I would put on CC if I could for the points). I still like about $60-100 of walking around money though. Old habits die hard. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/32 "2019-10-12T00:02:02Z")
Google Pay. The cafeteria at work takes mobile pay, and it’s pretty much the fastest method (credit cards take 5-10 seconds to process). So I use this method about 9 times per week, and also for the occasional other purchase like groceries. Somewhat counterintuitively, there’s a pretty much direct inverse relationship between sorting by dollars vs. frequency. All my cafeteria purchases don’t add up to much. The rarer payment types like paper checks or wire transfers happen only a couple times per year, but are always large amounts. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/33 "2019-10-12T00:39:57Z")
Too many places don’t allow contactless, so it’s still majority credit cards for me. Since we’ve adopted that slow-ass chip, I keep hoping that more and more will adopt contactless. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/34 "2019-10-12T01:05:33Z")
I use credit cards for nearly all purchases, using cash only when people don’t accept them. I pay off my credit card bill in full every month. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/35 "2019-10-12T01:07:06Z")
Cash for the small stuff. It’s still the best way to know when you’re spending too much on coffee and lunch. Debit cards for gas and groceries. Direct pay for recurring expenses. Credit cards for online purchases. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/36 "2019-10-12T01:45:21Z")
Hard to say. I carry my lunch so most days I pay for nothing. I pay gas, groceries, and on-line with Credit card. I use cash at virtually all restaurants (1.5 x a week). Mailed bills are paid by check, but my wife writes most of those. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/37 "2019-10-12T02:37:45Z")
Even random guys selling food on the street in the Midwest have card readers these days. Fraud risk is the only reason I see not to use credit cards for everything. I’ve had 2 cards compromised recently but I have plenty of other cards and there’s really little no risk when your credit card is cloned. Cash lost or stolen is a different story, and debit cards have protection but carry risk and inconvenience to correct. Yeah, the “checking” (I think i’ve written 2-3 checks in the last 5 years) account pays some bills online, mostly the credit cards. If that gets wiped out I might have some issues. If my available credit on any given card gets temporarily held, not big deal. I have one credit card that gets automatic discounts on groceries and gas plus cash back. Then I have a restaurant cash back card, and all kinds of other general rewards cards. ---
**Author:** ![Anxious\_Squirrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anxious_squirrel/32/1083_2.png) [@Anxious\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anxious_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/38 "2019-10-12T03:08:26Z")
I use cash for all offline purchases and Visa gift cards for online. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/39 "2019-10-12T03:14:52Z")
Mobile pay for everybody that’ll take it (I get at least 2% back on every such transaction), which these days is maybe 3/4 of my non-online purchases. Those get a credit card mostly linked to the same account unless they take mobile pay as well. ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/40 "2019-10-12T03:45:52Z")
For face to face transactions I almost always use cash, I don’t have any particular reason, it’s just what I’ve always done (yes, I’m an old fart) For paying bills I would normally use online banking because it’s the easiest way for me ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617/41 "2019-10-12T10:24:02Z")
Here in Taiwan, I use cash for most small and medium things, including groceries and lunch. I get paid in cash for my private English lessons, so I have cash on hand. The mortgage is automatic withdraw. Most of the bills are automatically billed to credit card. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-way-of-payment/841617.md?page=3)