Is Congress Going to Kill Credit Card Rewards?
Is Congress Going to Kill Credit Card Rewards?
Supporters of the Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 say it may lower store prices. Opponents argue it may decimate the perks that come with your plastic.
Legislation known as the Credit Card Competition Act, first introduced in Congress in 2022, is described by its sponsors as encouraging “competition in electronic credit transactions.” But if lawmakers end up passing the measure, opponents say it could also torpedo the rich rewards and perks that cardholders have enjoyed for years.
“Will consumers lose? Probably,” wrote Brian Riley, director of the credit advisory service at Mercator Advisory Group, in an August 2022 post to the Mercator blog. “Their reward programs will dry up, just as they did with debit cards.”
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Dude whose job it is to rip off consumers says "consumers will lose".
I'm sold. Pass that law. If the CC company bozos are against it, it's probably a good thing.
This reads as "if our prices have to be competitive, we're cancelling our bullshit programs where you could game back some of the money we took from you."
Yeah. We know you won't be able to afford that, because we will still have all of that money. That's the point.
Edit: "Let them eat cake."
Actually, that's a fair point. Credit card merchant fees are a significant portion of transactions. VISA gets rich because they charge 1-10% on every single transaction. Holy crap.
My family churns our credit cards to get the absolute maximum rewards possible. Each year, out of probably $75k in purchases on credit cards, we receive about $3k in cash back. That's about 5%. Sure, we're thankful for being able to get some free nights in a hotel and such, but if we weren't paying those fees in the first place, we'd save quite a bit more.
But of course, cost savings are not transferred to consumers these days. Retailers will still charge the same, they'll just give VISA and the big banks less profits.
I'll even pay extra if they stop selling my info.
Why pay extra when you could legislate
legislation is paying extra.
How so?