In a convenience-based society, credit and debit cards fit right in — welcome to generation plastic.

Card convenience

Forget the wallet stuffed with dollar bills and checks — Joe Green would rather just carry around his credit card.

“Cards are just much more convenient,” the public relations and advertising junior said.

When it comes to big shopping trips, having plastic on hand can make life a little simpler, said Elizabeth Booth, a professor in the Eli Broad College of Business.

“It’s an ease of payment,” Booth said.

Not only do cards make purchases and returns easy, they offer loyalty programs and other benefits, such as airline miles and cash back on purchases, she said.

Keeping cash to a minimum can sometimes serve as protection, said Joyce Banish, vice president of marketing at MSU Federal Credit Union.

“If you lose money, it’s lost,” she said. “But if you lose a credit card and a purchase is made on it, you’re not really responsible for that purchase.”

In emergency situations, a credit card can even be a necessity, Banish said.

“If you’re sick and needed medication or your tire needed fixing, it’s nice to have that as a resource,” she said.

Usually, a student will receive about a $1,500 limit with an MSUFCU credit card, Banish said.

The other option is a Visa check card, or debit card, which Banish said is popular with college students.

About one-third of in-store purchases are made with credit cards, which is up 21 percent from six years ago, according to an ABA survey.

“As more people shop online, it’s more mandatory for them to have some sort of Visa check or Visa credit card,” Banish said.

Credit crises and debit disaster

Despite the ease of a quick swipe, the plastic doesn’t come without its own set of hassles and hidden fees.

Students tend to get into more trouble with credit cards than any other form of payment, Booth said.

Overdraft fees may be part of the reason.

Instead of taking care of overdrafts by transfers from savings or other methods, many banks use short-term loans to cover customers, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, or CLR.

Even small overdraws come with fees. At MSUFCU, Banish said the overdraft charge is $25 for both credit and debit accounts.

According to the CLR, almost 50 percent of overdraft fees come from using an ATM or from debit card purchases. Those with checking accounts paid about $10.3 billion in overdraft fees in 2005, a CLR report said.

Online banking is what keeps Green on track with his account and avoiding any late fees — he usually checks his MSUFCU credit and debit accounts at least once a day.

Many banks, such as MSUFCU, give customers the option of online banking, where they can track their accounts with a keyboard and mouse. Students can have both their debit card and credit card transactions at the tip of their fingers and can transfer money from one to the other, Banish said.

“You don’t have to write a check and mail it in,” Banish said about paying a credit card bill. “All you have to do is transfer from checking to credit card the amount you want to pay that month.”

Online banking allows people to keep a closer watch on their accounts — if a transaction seems wrong, Banish said, a customer could report it immediately after checking online.

Making a choice

Fees or no fees, Booth wouldn’t deter students from getting credit and debit cards.

“You don’t want to be so afraid that you never have one,” she said. “You want to use it responsibly.”

To establish a good credit history, Booth recommends getting two credit cards — one major bank credit card, such as a Visa or Mastercard, and a store credit card, such as a Macy’s or gas station card.

She said many banks want to see that people can handle different types of credit.

“Credit history will really help you down the road,” she said.

Besides allowing for loans and mortgages, some employers even look at credit history as a screening tool for potential employers, Booth said.

Just about everything is credit-scored, and a good score can save about 7 percent in interest rates, Banish said.

“Getting a low credit score — that’s the goal,” she said.

To check an individual’s score, Booth recommends visiting www.annualcreditreport.com at least once a year to see what credit history looks like and to look out for any errors.

Green said he does make a lot of purchases on his card, but a credit score isn’t something he thinks about when using it.

“I know it’s important,” he said, “but I couldn’t tell you what my credit score is.”

Checks, please

Don’t throw away that checkbook just yet — many places only accept checks or cash — especially as a form of bill payment.

Green said he uses checks to pay for his rent at his apartment complex, The Club at Chandler Crossings.

Restaurants such as The Golden Harvest, 1625 Turner St. in Lansing, haven’t caved in to change their old ways of not accepting credit and debit.

Back in the 1980s, one of the owners decided the service charge of using credit cards wasn’t worth sacrificing low prices, said Zane Vicknair, co-owner of the diner.

“That was his motivation for not switching — keeping the prices as affordable as possible,” he said. “And it kind of became a principle thing.”

Vicknair said he is fond of the cash-only policy.

“You don’t see it very often,” he said. “It’s a quirky thing about our place.”

Although Vicknair said many of his customers are regulars, every so often he runs into a newbie who comes with plastic only.

But he doesn’t let it stop them from getting served.

“Usually I can tell by their eyes — most people are pretty genuine and sincere,” he said.

Vicknair tells them to eat and hang out before worrying about payment. He said there are about two ATMs nearby, so most people run to one of them to get cash.

He’s only had one person not come back — but he won’t let that change his mind about credit cards.

“I don’t think I’ve ever lost business because I didn’t accept a credit card,” he said. “(Cash) is cleaner and more honest to me. A credit card is money you don’t really have in your pocket.”

Booth said she can’t picture a society where checks and cash are unnecessary.

“(Having cash) is a comfort to people,” she said. “For smaller transactions, like a 20-cent pack of gum, you probably don’t want the hassle of having that charge.”

While some may carry cash for small purchases or to support those businesses that don’t take credit, others would rather not give out credit cards to unknown businesses, Banish said.

“I think there will always probably be cash,” she said. “I don’t know too many street vendors in New York City that take credit.”