Anatomy of a credit card rewards program
https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/anatomy-of-credit-card-rewards-programs/ [www.bitsaboutmoney.com]
2024-04-04 23:34
Different regions have ended up with different equilibria in the rewards game. In the United States, card acceptance is expensive and the rewards economy is robust. In Japan, card acceptance is expensive and the rewards economy is fairly muted due to—ahem—effective collusion by issuers. In Europe, card acceptance is cheap by regulatory fiat and so rewards are far less common (or commonly lucrative) than in the U.S.
source: HN