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In the US you're overpaying by not making your purchases with a credit card that you pay off every month. There are so many rewards programs and vendors typica

In the US you're overpaying by not making your purchases with a credit card that you pay off every month. There are so many rewards programs and vendors typically are required to have the same price for credit and cash purchases.

ryandrake 9y ago
> vendors typically are required to have the same price for credit and cash purchases. Tell that to pretty much every gas station out there and every little mom and pop restaurant that offers a "cash discount".
- colejohnson66 9y ago
  Isn’t that a valid reason for a chargeback?
  - lotsofpulp 9y ago
    So you want people who can't afford credit cards with nice rewards, to subsidize those who do? Also, you are not privy to the contracts between merchants and card processors, so how would you know? And there may have been a law passed specifically forbidding card networks from forcing the same pricing. Edit:. Cash and debit are allowed to be different price than credit: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-charged-more-gas-station/ https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-cha...
    - colejohnson66 9y ago
      > So you want people who can't afford credit cards with nice rewards, to subsidize those who do? Where did I say that? > Also, you are not privy to the contracts between merchants and card processors, so how would you know? That’s why I asked a question instead of stating something as fact. Why are you so defensive in your reply?
      - lotsofpulp 9y ago
        Sorry, I interpreted it as a sarcastic remark to screwed over a merchant offering a lower price for cash customers.
TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
Here in Australia I looked in to a few of these reward programs on various cards and none of them were worth the annual fee unless you were spending over $10,000 a month.
- x0x0 9y ago
  Well, in the US, you can get capital one's 1.5% cash back credit card with no annual fee, and citi has a 2% card. That's basically free money for substituting that for your debit card and spending what you were going to spend anyway. Amex has a card that gives you 6% back on groceries on the first 6k with a (iirc) $95 fee; that's a solid win for most people with families and even couples that pay bay area grocery prices. The cash comes out of some admixture of the people still using their debit cards, idiots who borrow money from the credit card companies at 20% annually, and the card companies merchant fees.

ryandrake 9y ago

> vendors typically are required to have the same price for credit and cash purchases. Tell that to pretty much every gas station out there and every little mom and pop restaurant that offers a "cash discount".

colejohnson66 9y ago
Isn’t that a valid reason for a chargeback?
- lotsofpulp 9y ago
  So you want people who can't afford credit cards with nice rewards, to subsidize those who do? Also, you are not privy to the contracts between merchants and card processors, so how would you know? And there may have been a law passed specifically forbidding card networks from forcing the same pricing. Edit:. Cash and debit are allowed to be different price than credit: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-charged-more-gas-station/ https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-cha...
  - colejohnson66 9y ago
    > So you want people who can't afford credit cards with nice rewards, to subsidize those who do? Where did I say that? > Also, you are not privy to the contracts between merchants and card processors, so how would you know? That’s why I asked a question instead of stating something as fact. Why are you so defensive in your reply?
    - lotsofpulp 9y ago
      Sorry, I interpreted it as a sarcastic remark to screwed over a merchant offering a lower price for cash customers.

TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago

Here in Australia I looked in to a few of these reward programs on various cards and none of them were worth the annual fee unless you were spending over $10,000 a month.

x0x0 9y ago
Well, in the US, you can get capital one's 1.5% cash back credit card with no annual fee, and citi has a 2% card. That's basically free money for substituting that for your debit card and spending what you were going to spend anyway. Amex has a card that gives you 6% back on groceries on the first 6k with a (iirc) $95 fee; that's a solid win for most people with families and even couples that pay bay area grocery prices. The cash comes out of some admixture of the people still using their debit cards, idiots who borrow money from the credit card companies at 20% annually, and the card companies merchant fees.