Oh no, the banks are getting one over on you ;) They more than make up what they pay you through the fees they get from the businesses you buy from.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
I've resisted supermarket reward cards because its one huge data-mining exercise and it doesn't suit my paranoid nature. Over ten years ago I met someone at a dinner party who ran a company that sorts out a loyalty card scheme for a major UK supermarket and frankly it scared me exactly how much information they could get from seemingly innocuous information like what brand detergent you buy. I read recently that things are so advanced that they can predict two or three years ahead that a woman is planning to have kids and will subtly shift the advertising she receives to reflect that she would be preparing for this (like home improvement products etc).
Since I've already got my mobile phone and search engine spying on my every move I don't want to add to my corporate surveillance with a loyalty card.
When it comes to credit cards however as they say everyone can be bought for a price, and my price is 1.5% cashback on my Amex card. The problem with this is that very few shops take Amex in the UK because of the exorbitant fees they charge businesses.
I've also used credit cards that charge 0% for a year as cheap loans in the past, then closed the account once I've paid it off. I'm not sure exactly how the banks make money on those deals but I'm sure they do somehow.