I think rather than trying to convince him, it might be a better idea to gently ask questions and talk things through. You said he grew up in poverty. What I'm hearing is that the cards represent a kind of security blanket for him. I can understand that. But if you had $10,000 set aside for emergencies, you'd have the security of knowing that a transmission repair on the car or a new water heater for the house would only be a minor inconvenience — and you wouldn't have to go back into debt to make things right again.