Absolutely essential in this day and age. The more plastic cards you have, the better. You need a bank card for every account... the more bank accounts you have, the better. And then you need a club card for every store if you want their discounts. And with inflation the way it is, you need every discount you can muster. After you're through with the bank and store cards, then you need credit cards to use when your bank accounts are empty. (The extremely high interest rate you pay on these cards also ensures the survival of the banks and credit companies). We now also need a plastic card to access our jobs, collect our paycheques, drive a car, access health care, and the list goes on. Shoot - I sure wish I was the one who invented plastic!