How Credit Card Companies Pay for Your Rewards

How Credit Card Companies Make Money (And Who Pays) Every time you tap a credit card, the shop pays about two and a third percent. That fee ends up in the prices everyone pays, cash or card. Here's how the money moves, who keeps it, and who quietly pays for your rewards. 0:00 One Swipe 3:13 The Man Who Mailed 60,000 Cards 6:43 Paid Twice 8:22 The People Behind You in Line 10:05 The Fight for Your Wallet SOURCES • Merchants Payments Coalition (advocacy), Sep 2025 https://merchantspaymentscoalition.co... • Drechsler et al., NY Fed Staff Report 1143 https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fednsr/... • PYMNTS on NY Fed data, Mar 13, 2025 https://www.pymnts.com/?p=2511787 • NBER Digest (Egan et al., WP 35067), Jul 2026 https://www.nber.org/digest/202607/re... • Schuh, Shy, Stavins, Boston Fed, 2010 https://www.bostonfed.org/publication... • The Daily Record, Jun 10, 2026 https://thedailyrecord.com/2026/06/10... • American Banker, Jun 10, 2026 https://www.americanbanker.com/paymen... • Payments Dive, Oct 16, 2026 https://www.paymentsdive.com/news/vis... • PYMNTS, Jun 9, 2026 https://www.pymnts.com/credit-cards/2... • Visa interchange page (NZ) https://nz.review.visa.com/about-visa... • Wikipedia, interchange fee litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment... • Banking Dive, Jan 3, 2025 https://www.bankingdive.com/news/fede... • Payments Dive, Mar 2026 https://www.paymentsdive.com/news/ccc... • Taxpayers Protection Alliance, May 2024 (survey) https://www.protectingtaxpayers.org/r... • a16z (Alex Rampell), Sep 2019 https://a16z.com/the-fresno-free-for-... • 15 U.S.C. 1642 (1970) https://law.justia.com/codes/us/2015/... • CRS IF11893, Aug 2021 https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/... • NBC News, June 2025 https://www.nbcnews.com/business/pers... • CFPB, Oct 2023 https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about... • Regulation (EU) 2015/751, Art. 4 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/20... • Court order, 05-md-1720 (E.D.N.Y.), Jun 2026 https://storage.courtlistener.com/rec... • Payments Dive, Jun 2026 https://www.paymentsdive.com/news/cou... • Visa, History of Visa https://africa.visa.com/about-visa/ou... • CFPB, Federal Register, Jan 2026 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/F... • Invezz, Jun 17, 2025 https://invezz.com/news/2025/06/17/sa... • Amex 10-K FY2025 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... • Amex Q4 2025 earnings tables https://s26.q4cdn.com/747928648/files... • SCOTUSblog case page https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/ohio... • Skadden memo, Jun 27, 2018 https://www.skadden.com/insights/publ... • Visa Form 10-K FY2025 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... • Visa, Dee Hock in memoriam, 2022 https://corporate.visa.com/en/sites/v... • Visa FY2026 earnings (8-K), Oct 2026 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... • Archival film dates: Storyblocks (retrofootage) https://www.storyblocks.com/video/sto... CREDITS Stock footage and photos: Storyblocks. Archival film: retrofootage via Storyblocks, editorial licence. The Dee Hock portrait and the 1958 bank office are AI illustrations, labelled on screen. Music: "DOX" by Lennon Hutton, via Epidemic Sound Subscribe:    / @thevigmedia   #CreditCards #SwipeFees #TheVig