To: pyslent who wrote (173750 ) 9/8/2014 5:23:08 PM From: Ryan Bartholomew 1 RecommendationRecommended By
Read Replies (1) | Respond to No one card currently offers 5% cash back on every transaction on an ongoing basis, but your method of swapping between 20 cards if executed perfectly, would ensure that every charge on any one card generates a 5% cash back. If Apple automated that process such that all users had the same benefit, the result would be that all charges to all credit cards would generate 5% cash back. At that point, every card might as well offer 5% cash back on every transaction, if it's so profitable. And then we'd be back to square 1-- where I just need one credit card. I follow your reasoning, but that assumes that everyone will be using the system to its fullest. What if Apple doesn't release something with switching/optimizing functionality but someone else does, and that other platform achieves just 30% market penetration? Also, 5% across the board isn't possible even if you have every card possible. Bonuses are fluid... there would still be the incentive for optimized users to shop more at particular stores or categories when the reward is highest, so even if they don't have to think for themselves about which card to use, they'll still have to decide if the optimal reward is worth spending, and if so, how much and when. Bottom line is that we're nowhere near the point where a single credit card wouldn't prevent users from gaining optimal rewards, and it's not a trivial amount. Any successful platform, unless they want to alienate consumers who might find a few thousand dollars in savings per year appealing, will need to include some form of reward optimization or at least compatibility. IMO it will be a critical component of Apple's announcement tomorrow... I think that lacking it would be a huge hit to their prospects.
