Credit card offers have been a part of our lives for a long time. According to the survey, 90% of Americans prefer to pay for goods and services with their credit cards, rather than using cash or checks. But Americans have difficult relationships with plastics.

The recent pole studied how Americans manage, select, understand, use and what they feel about credit cards. 1,000 Americans were asked by phone about credit cards they are using. The relationships between credit cards and Americans can be called passionate and conflicted at the same time.

As we all know, credit cards play a great role in the lives of Americans, they have become virtually ubiquitous modern accessories and are absolutely necessary! This study was held to find the contradiction between how Americans think about plastics and how they actually use them.

An average American family has over $9,000 in credit card debt. Despite of this fact, 90% of them still use their cards frequently. As you can see Americans really have complex relationships with their plastic cards, they can be called love-hate relationships.

8 out of 10 Americans define credit cards as "debt cards"; they feel that they are the easiest way to get into financial troubles.

On the other hand, the same respondents describe them as empowering, because they help them to make purchases that they can't afford! They admit that credit cards are comfortable and that it is the primary reason why they use them.

Some of the results of the survey were shocking! For example, 3 out of 4 Americans don't read the terms and condition, when they fill out the credit card application for the plastic they have chosen!

My friend Richard once made such a mistake. He applied for the gasoline credit card and didn't bother to read terms and conditions of the card. Richard really wanted to save some cash on gas as he drives his car a lot, so gasoline card was the best match for him. After his introductory period was over, his credit card bills were simply huge! Later Richard found out that he applied for a card with an extremely high interested rate. So he made a few searches and found gasoline credit card offer that was really profitable for him!

Many of respondents don't know how much it will take to pay off their debt if they are only making minimum payments or how to enhance their personal credit rating!

Over 50% of respondents feel that they are not satisfied with cards they are using, but don't feel like searching for the new ones! Only 1 out 5 takes the time to search for the card that is good for him or her! Credit cards are not created equal, they are very different! Credit card companies try to issue offers that can really help their customers, such as cash back credit cards, gasoline cards, hotel credit cards, credit cards for students and businessmen and many other cards!

The most surprising fact is that 72% of respondents know how to use their credit cards correctly, but only 20% of them actually do so!

We all know that credit cards can be very profitable, so to have good relationships with your card, all you have to do is - to use it correctly!

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