I suspect a lot of people in the US use credit card generally to mean card of some sort because credit cards are so common. You do mostly need a card of some sort (and a smartphone) for many purposes but it mostly doesn't need to be a literal credit card so long as you have enough money in the bank.

How do you get a credit score?

Pay your mortgage on time every month for a few decades?

How do you get good rates for a mortgage, without a credit score?

How do you even get a mortgage without a credit score?