"Given that a credit card in Germany is just a "delayed-action" debit card"
Most credit cards can work both way - it is what you stipulate with your bank about the reimbursement that makes it work one way or the other.
I guess most people in continental EU use credit cards that way, unlike US people who look happy to be strangled by debts to buy things they can't afford instead of fighting for better wages - but German unions are probably the bogeyman of most US executives.
The option to pay with a little delay without fees can be useful.
Anyway I feel I have a far better control of my finances paying with cards - as I have a full list of what I did and how much I've spent. The downside is banks & C. can track you unless the law forbids it...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
