> you pay for the rewards ... No, I don't pay for the rewards on my premium rewards credit card. For the most part, my rewards are paid for by everyone else w

> you pay for the rewards ... No, I don't pay for the rewards on my premium rewards credit card. For the most part, my rewards are paid for by everyone else who doesn't have a premium rewards credit card. Premium rewards cards cost merchants a lot more to accept than regular credit cards and debit cards. Rewards cards: 5% to 10% of total volume with swipe fees of 2.5% to 4.0% Regular credit cards: 30% to 40% of total volume with swipe fees of 1.5% to 2.5% Debit cards: 50% to 60% of total volume with swipe fees of 0.5% Yes, merchants build their payment costs into the prices of their products, but they generally don't charge different prices depending on what card the customer uses. So the majority of the population that doesn't qualify for a premium rewards card is effectively paying more for everything to subsidize the more wealthy people at the top.