....Has always puzzled me. From what I've seen, credit, and not debit, cards looks like the norm in the US. I am completely unable to wrap my head around it. I too own a credit card, but I use it almost exclusively for travel abroad, where mastercard provides some nifty benefits. My debit card isn't very cheap to use abroad either, so the difference is quite small. The debt is repaid instantly upon return.

The concept of keeping a credit card debt over time is truly alien to me. Now Marketwatch provides a possible answer: Americans lack confidence that the banks will be there on that rainy day.

So, yanks: is this true?