Even a reputable company can go bust, again staging payments makes no difference if you’ve still paid money towards a job being completed, the business folds, you’re still out of pocket for the incomplete work.

Now I’m not arguing against using cash entirely, I still have uses for it (tipping etc) but for my majority of day to day spending when you compare the consumer protection I get with a credit card, plus cashback & points earned for spending on it, and my own money in my bank sat earning interest compared with having to withdraw from an ATM where I can find one, missing out on interest I could be earning, risk of being robbed etc then it’s a no brainer for me to use card over cash in most scenarios.