Credit Card Rewards Are Under Attack Again — Retailers Say They Hurt The Poor, But Their Own Newest Evidence Backfires

Retailers are back to arguing that credit card rewards hurt poor cash and debit customers, this time with a new Harvard paper getting attention. But even taking the paper on its own terms, the redistribution claim is much smaller than advertised — and the Durbin-style fee caps retailers want may hurt lower-income consumers more than the rewards system they’re attacking.