>Isn't this effectively what we have with Chase, Amex, Capital One, and Citi? Each earns points that can be used directly or transferred to airlines and hotels.

>Isn't this effectively what we have with Chase, Amex, Capital One, and Citi? Each earns points that can be used directly or transferred to airlines and hotels. Not really. Those companies aren't sellers of points, they horse trade the interchange fee. They're basically giving away a portion of their revenue just to stay competitive. If I have the monopoly of buying miles from airlines at 1c/mile and then sell them to co-branded credit card companies for 1.3-1.5c, what I have is a fucking license to print money.