Taking the bigger picture, those rewards and disputes aren't free. These things get paid for by transaction fees, cardholders that carry balances, and vendors t

Taking the bigger picture, those rewards and disputes aren't free. These things get paid for by transaction fees, cardholders that carry balances, and vendors taking a loss. On the whole, prices for everything go up, but people fortunate enough to have "good" credit cards get a slight discount at the expense of those who don't. I'm not necessarily saying this system is better or worse than some alternative, just pointing out that it's not all upside.