The Use of Credit Travel Cards - Essay Example

Why using the government travel credit card is wrong The use of credit travel cards has been a common thing in the United States of America especially in the delivery of administrative services to the citizens. In the US, only those who serve in the government are entitled to the services of the credit cards. Many people do not understand that improper use of the credit cards can earn someone serious consequences that may lead to jail sentence. In the US, there are some laws governing the uses of the credit cards by the responsible persons who have them. Before discussing the drawbacks of using these cards, it is therefore appropriate to have some knowledge on the operation or mechanism of the cards. First, the card bearers who are the government employees are to make sure that the credit cards issued to them by the insurance companies chosen by the government are genuine. This is to avoid being engaged in activities contrary to the government expectations. Secondly, the card holders should be willing to comply with the terms and conditions provided by card issuers. This is to avoid mistakes considered fraud in the sight of the government. The third condition is that, the cardholders should use the cards for the restricted uses especially for official uses. Despite of the conditions and mechanism that the card bearers consider, the personalities in question experience various demerits. The demerits often affect the family life of the cardholders in that their families are not entitled to the services of the cards. The first demerit of the cards to the users is that, they are not able to respond to emergency issues concerning the family by using the cards. There are various unpredictable family emergencies that may leave someone seriously affected if he or she does not use the card to sort the issue with an aim of paying later. Some of the serious family emergencies that may compel someone to use the card include sickness, robbery, house fires and other sensitive situations and occurrences. Falling ill is something unpredictable in human life and therefore a government official or a family member may fall ill at anytime even before the payment of the salary and this may lead to loss of life if no financial assistance is given to cater for medication. This can happen if one insists on the provisions of the cards with an aim of avoiding conflict with the government. The restrictions of the credit cards affect another family emergency, which is robbery. The holders may experience robbery of their properties and be forced to use the cards to settle down their families with an intension of repaying the amount spent. This affects their lives if they insist on the provisions of the cards with intensions of avoiding disciplinary actions of the government. The other family emergency affected by the provisions of the card is unpredictable house fires. The cardholders at times may experience fire outbreaks leading to their houses burning down and destruction of properties. In such an event, the person involved or affected may use the card to find temporary shelter for the family due to the responsibility of taking care of the family needs (Grant & Richard 68). The cardholders may be greatly affected in they insist on the restrictions of the cards and the provisions of the government. In general, the use credit card is wrong because it affects the peoples’ response to family emergencies. The other reason why the use of credit travel card is wrong is that, it attracts serious consequences to the holder resulting from non-intentional mistakes. Human beings are to mistakes and it is normal for people to make mistakes either intentionally or non-intentionally. Due to this, some of the cardholders can make simple mistakes like a slight alteration in the free report of which one cannot be aware. One can also delay in the submission of the free report due to some reasons of which with no convincing excuses one can end up in trouble. The consequences of going contrary to the provisions of the cards include jail sentences, high fines and job terminations. When one pled guilty of going contrary to the provisions and restrictions of the credit travel cards in the US court of law he or she may given a discipline of jail sentence for a given period. An example of this happened in the United States of America when a government employee served five years detention for purchasing expensive personal items using the government’s credit card. Another serious consequence is the termination of job contracts. Here the government officials incur the risk of losing their jobs on going contrary to the provisions of the cards. An example of this happened when veteran administration employee got his job contract terminated for going contrary to the restrictions of the government card by fueling his private car using the card. A high fine is also a major consequence for using the government cards inappropriately. This also do not lack a typical example as it happened in the United States of America where a government employee was compelled to pay a sum of one hundred and seventy thousand US dollars as a payment of the expenses caused by purchasing expensive items using a government card. Another major reason as to why the use of the travel credit cards is wrong is that, it discourages savings since the cardholders enjoy the main responsibilities taken by the government. This make them to spend much of their salaries on luxury and this hinder some citizens who earn very little and are not entitled to the services and responsibilities of the government cards. In conclusion, it is wrong to use credit cards despite of the benefits enjoyed by the card bearers. It is wrong to use them at times because of the discussed drawbacks that may severely affect the lives of the bearers in the event of occurrence of the serious issues that may cause problems as discussed above. Work Cited Grant, Alan H., and Richard J. Gambino. "Method and device for preventing unauthorized use of credit cards." U.S. Patent No. 6,095,416. 1 Aug. 2000. Read More