" I get somewhere between 2% and 5% back on virtually everything I buy." This is more a function of the extreme power that VISA etc. have over the transactions

" I get somewhere between 2% and 5% back on virtually everything I buy." This is more a function of the extreme power that VISA etc. have over the transactions. They are locked into their fees and make it impossible to do things like 'pay this other way and save 2% etc.' i.e. trying to do anything to obfuscate to the consumer that they are in fact responsible for 3% of every purchase you make. So various entities find ways around those controls by giving you money back in another direction. Basically, there's immense 'market pressure' on those 3% fees, but the oligarchy has control over it, so those fees will nature be eaten away by any and all other angles. If there was no oligarchy, those '2% back' programs would be less likely to happen and what we would see is material margin erosion for such fees.