Re:Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?
by arcticbull on Friday August 19, 2022 @05:55PM
(#32526439)
It could be a devaluation precursor, or it could just be psychological. Points-denominated rewards break the association with the actual dollar value. Folks feel better (irrationally so) about earning 100 points each worth $0.01 than they do about earning $1.00
The cynic in me wonders how long before they devalue them. It's easier to start changing the rules for "points redemption" when they aren't saying outright "You have $112.75 in cashback value" on the statement.
They recently had a promotion-- use the points directly to buy on Amazon, but if you paid that way, it was debased-- something like 120 to the dollar. It was actually better for me to buy what I wanted on credit, redeem the points as a bank transfer, and settle the bill at the end of the month.