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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2847 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 9, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Your article opposes the claim that credit-card rewards are funded by poor people. PokerPirate made a different claim—credit-card companies are funded by people who pay interest on balances. I think your article agrees with PokerPirate's claim. This Supreme Court opinion does as well.

Amex competes with Visa and MasterCard by using a different business model. While Visa and MasterCard earn half of their revenue by collecting interest from their cardholders, Amex does not. Amex instead earns most of its revenue from merchant fees. Amex’s business model thus focuses on cardholder spending rather than cardholder lending. To encourage cardholder spending, Amex provides better rewards than other networks. Due to its superior rewards, Amex tends to attract cardholders who are wealthier and spend more money. Merchants place a higher value on these cardholders, and Amex uses this advantage to recruit merchants.

The article does not agree with PokerPirate's claim. It quite clearly explains that rewards are financed from interchange fees.

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