[whoisburbansky]

It plays out this way because anything anyone buys with a credit card, reward card or not, ends up costing 2-3% more than it would otherwise have, because of interchange fees. If you have a rewards card, the CC issuer turns around and gives you, say, half of that back (1% cashback on everything) and keeps the rest. It's kind of like a tax break that you only qualify for if your credit score is above a certain threshold, but you have to pay into regardless of income/credit score.

[woobar]

> ends up costing 2-3% more than it would otherwise

This is a very simplified view. Cash handling is not free. Fraud levels with cash are different. Overall attractiveness of a small but cash-only business is different.

[TheDong]

The alternative to credit cards that charge 2-3% fees shouldn't be cash, but rather debit cards with close to zero fees.

Cash handling isn't free, but a digital transfer that doesn't have rewards is obviously cheaper than a credit card.

[brewdad]

There is a reason every concert and sports venue near me has gone cashless. It's not because they enjoy giving away 2-3% of their revenues but rather those places aren't active every evening and tend to turn over employees quickly. Handling cash is expensive and risky in that environment.