You haven't taken into account the US ideal of a bifurcated society, and are probably imagining some singular credit card user archtype who relies on the credit

You haven't taken into account the US ideal of a bifurcated society, and are probably imagining some singular credit card user archtype who relies on the credit and also benefits from the rewards. I personally am able to set my credit cards to autopay in full every month, so CC rewards are just a straightforward discount [0]. And I'd guess anybody that talks about rewards as prudent financial advice is in a similar boat. Whereas for the disempowered person who can only pay part of their balance, rewards are just another cognitive hazard to avoid being swayed by, lest they get milked even harder. As for the original topic, I personally hate seeing the echo of my spending in a monthly statement. It's like making the decision to buy everything twice, even for things that are straightforwardly necessary or prudent. [0] with the tradeoff of the transaction going in more surveillance databases and being solidly connected to my government-issued nym, of course