Credit Card Rewards Became a $9.2B Wealth Transfer

Re:Credit Card Rewards Became a $9.2B Wealth Transfer by Xirdus on Tuesday August 25, 2026 @08:10AM (#49432574)

My first US credit card was a 4-3-2-1% rewards program and I had literally zero income at the time. I was told by the banker, "oh you can't do that right away, you must first get a secured card to build your credit score, after a year you can try applying for real", but I told them I don't care and to send the application anyway, and I've got it.

Ever since then, I wondered how much of the "not qualifying" is due to misinformation like this.

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Re:Credit Card Rewards Became a $9.2B Wealth Transfer by bitmasher9 on Tuesday August 25, 2026 @08:23AM (#49432744)

Most true not qualifying are either

1. People with proven bad credit.

2. People asking for a lot of money without proven good credit.

3. People asking for more specialized credit, such as lines for businesses or lines for high earners.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Credit Card Rewards Became a $9.2B Wealth Transfer by Xirdus on Tuesday August 25, 2026 @09:37AM (#49433857)

The question is what percentage of overall population are 1, 2 and 3 combined, and is it big enough to warrant the perception that high reward cards are only for high earners/spenders.

My instinct says hell no, not even close.

[ Parent | on HN ]