which provide a decent cashback (I'll fill up my car once or twice a year for free).
That is the reason I have became a supporter of credit cards: cashback feature.
I really don't like to stay in debt and credit cards are very dangerous, as it's likely debt will hit you sooner or later, not exactly because you don't have money to pay for your expenses, but because you may forget it or the credit card can mysteriously trick you. It happened to me once: I had just paid for the purchases I made with my credit card during the month and didn't use it anymore for another one or two months. And for my surprise, after some time, when I checked the credit card informations on the app, I noticed I had some cents, which were increasing in value day by day, to be paid.
By now I don't understand why that happened. I just paid the debt faster as possible and right now I only use credit card to take advantage of the cashback feature on every purchases, although when I use this payment method the money is instantly taken from my account, just like it would work through a debit card. This way I can have access to the benefits, while avoiding the risks.
But aren't the cashback features all about collecting private data about you that then gets sold without you noticing?
Apart from that I think banks and governments both know quite well that there is value to people being in debt. Particularly when it comes to larger amounts, student loans and so on. Most people can't really enfold themselves fully even if they have great academic education just because they have to take on the next best job trying to pay back tens of thousands of dollars.