These schemes are usually interest free.
They make their money similar to credit card fees, a small percentage from the merchant.
They shaft you if you don’t pay though, and I’m not sure if this is still the case but they never used to show up on your actual credit history. Which seems nice on paper, but is actually hugely irresponsible. All these credit trackers seem like an unfair scam to keep the poor in their place, but they are there to stop you getting into more debt than you can pay off. If left to their own devices, the lenders would cheerfully give you way more than you could ever hope to pay, and then come round and break your kneecaps when you inevitably fall behind.
Gigan@lemmy.world 4 months ago
You don’t have to use credit, taxes are taken from you by force. Not comparable imo.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Being able to live isn’t a choice.
Gigan@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Are you saying you need credit to live? Because that’s not true. Lot’s of people live that way, but it’s not necessary.
BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee 4 months ago
Have you ever been poor? Yes, sometimes you need credit to live. I’m still paying off debt from 2020 that I only acquired due to desperation and the threat of homelessness
520@kbin.social 4 months ago
It can be. Depending on the circumstances in life you are in, credit may be the only way you're able to pay for food.
IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world 4 months ago
The only people who don’t need credit to live are rich enough that money will never be out of their reach.
djsoren19@yiffit.net 4 months ago
Not technically correct. If you want to be able to rent nice apartments or dream of owning a house, you will have to use credit in the U.S., or you’ll at least need someone with a high credit score willing to be your co-signer.
obv nobody is forcing you to get a credit card and rack up a lot of debt, but you will face a lot of struggles in life that someone who makes regular payments on a credit card will not.
uranibaba@lemmy.world 4 months ago
That seems crazy to me. I understand that what you are saying is reality, but is it really that difficult to get by in US without ever owning a credit card?
acetanilide@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Yes. Adding to the other comment, if you don’t have good credit you can also lose out on certain job opportunities.
djsoren19@yiffit.net 4 months ago
You’ll be rejected from a lot of things on the basis of having no credit, because in the U.S., it is considered worse if you have always paid everything up front and on time than if you consistently borrow and make continual payments. Now, that doesn’t have to be a credit card per say, it can be car lease payments, student loan payments, medical debt payments, my landlord reports my rent payments, but credit cards are one of the easiest ways to build up your credit score before you say, have to spend an extra $1500 upfront for an apartment on a co-signor service because my credit score wasn’t considered high enough for an apartment I pay $500 a month for.
elrik@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Yes. Effectively you will not have any credit history, so you simply won’t qualify for lower interest credit products or will be rejected on applications that have a credit score threshold.
IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world 4 months ago
The first time I wanted to finance a car I discovered I have what’s called a “thin file.” My (interest free) student loan wasn’t reporting to all 3 agencies. I was able to get my dad to co-sign. I was 26. Discovered then that being told “never ever ever own a credit card” (by my dad!) was very bad advice. Get one with a low limit and use it to pay the same bill every month. Credit! Now other places trust that you pay your bills.
I’ve since gotten several cards (it’s been nearly a decade) and they each serve a different specific purpose. I purposely target high signing bonuses and my purchases are better protected. My limits are stupid high, which I guess is nice but I’ll never put that much on so it’s a bit pointless. Then again, knowing I have access to that if things ever become dire is nice.
slaacaa@lemmy.world 4 months ago
You also don’t have to pay taxes. Plenty of rich people don’t
alienanimals@lemmy.world 4 months ago
The richest Americans lobbied the government aggressively to pay less taxes. They’re all skipping out on their fair share and foisting the burden on everyone with less than 100 million in the bank.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 4 months ago
This is why we should eat the richest person each year and re-distribute their wealth.
Imagine all those greedy fucks using their vast reserves of cash to investigate and call out the real wealth and scummy accounting of the other ultra wealthy.
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 4 months ago
They aren’t taken by force, you choose to live in a society that provides you with all sorts of services, which need to be paid for.
You are free to live in a society that doesn’t provide any road networks, fire departments, education, … but that is not where you live now. So I suggest you move instead of complaining about something necessary.
I heard Somalia doesn’t ask for any taxes.
basxto@discuss.tchncs.de 4 months ago
Opt-out systems are never a proper choice. You don’t choose where you get born. You need to learn the language of that country, move somewhere there, find a job there and get citizenship. That all costs money and time, some countries only give you citizenship after you live there 20 years. As long as you don’t switch citizenship, you still need to pay income tax and probably other things, some taxes like VAT immediately changes and are not tied to citizenship.
Somalia has taxes, though they might struggle to enforce their income taxes. It’s unlikely that there is any country without any kind of tax or a catch. Some have no income tax or VAT because that look good on paper, but then have a tax that acts similar or you basically have to buy citizenship.