If you have at least 2 credit cards from the same bank (eg one card with $20k limit and 5% cashback on restaurants and another card with $10k limit and 2% cashb

If you have at least 2 credit cards from the same bank (eg one card with $20k limit and 5% cashback on restaurants and another card with $10k limit and 2% cashback on all purchases), you can call the bank and tell them to move $19,800 of the credit limit from one card to the other. That way you can't spend over $200 without using the wrong card. Virtual debit cards are another ubiquitous solution, but they cost a lot more despite being free. Your option 3 subsidizes smarter consumers when you pay full price (which has interchange fees built-in) on everything without getting any fees returned to you in the form of cashback. (One issue with my solution is that a lot of banks let you spend 2x your credit limit on visa signature and similar tier cards. In that case you'll have to reduce the limit to $100)