Credit or debit? How to decide

The next time you reach for your wallet at the grocery store or the mall, chances are you'll whip out a debit card rather than a credit card. Since 2000, the number of debit payments has more than doubled, while the number of credit transactions has fallen by nearly half, according to bank card advisory firm R.K. Hammer.

Paying with cash -- which, after all, is what debit is a stand-in for -- may seem like the smarter move. But it isn't necessarily. There are a few situations in which credit serves you better.

You're planning to make a major purchase

You're buying gas, checking in at a hotel, or renting a car

You want big rewards

You don't vigilantly monitor your account