>But there is zero money to be made out of people who have zero money.

That's not true. That's why credit exists. Selling poor people shit they can't afford with terrible terms is a long-standing American tradition.

When a debtor is unable to pay (often times through no fault of their own), the creditor eats the cost because their margins are good enough to allow for it. That effectively represents a wealth transfer between corporations providing the services and the corporations providing the credit.

The creditor doesn't put a lien on the debtor's house, repossess their goods, or take them to court?

Obviously this happens with mortgages, cars, and other extremely high value things. IRS debts, student loan debts...

But what about credit cards? Don't they have mechanisms other than tanking your credit report? And if not, why don't poor indebted people simply default all the time to remove debt?

Sure, but you also can't squeeze blood from a stone.

That said, I was mostly talking credit cards, since that's what most tech services would fall under in a zero-money consumer situation.

>And if not, why don't poor indebted people simply default all the time to remove debt?

Some do, but having your credit ruined for seven years sucks for most people. Likewise the courts don't exactly smile upon those who run up huge debts with the intention of defaulting.

I would argue there is money to be made out of people with zero money. Student loans are an example. Instead of zero money, they now have negative money. This is terrible ofc.

Zero money now - but one must be ready to skim the cream off their raw human potential.