This is factually incorrect. In practice, rewards don’t come from card networks being generous. They’re funded in three main ways: > Merchants fund a large part of rewards Many rewards are effectively merchant-paid. Merchants agree to higher fees or marketing programs to boost sales, visibility, or conversion. When I was at Amex, we used to run these programs where, merchants routinely paid to run offers and reward boosts because cards drive demand. > Consumer leakage pays for power users A lot of cardholders don’t optimize: - they pay annual fees - they revolve balances and pay interest - they don’t redeem points efficiently That money subsidizes the rewards for people who use cards “well.” If everyone maximized rewards, the system wouldn’t work. > Interchange is recycled to lock in the network: Visa, Mastercard, etc collect interchange and then give parts of it back as incentives to issuers and acquirers to onboard users and merchants. This isn’t neutral alignment, it’s strategic redistribution to keep the network dominant. Cards are an incredible network effect, but not because incentives are fairly aligned. They work because merchants have the least bargaining power, consumers are financially inefficient, banks monetize credit and float, and networks sit in the middle at near-zero marginal cost.

I spent hours to find the best neobanks on Solana Most have hidden fees but some will change your life ▫️ @KASTxyz: Kast provides various debit cards starting at $0/year. Enjoy cashback and points that lead to an Airdrop. Bank transfers are also available. ▫️ @AviciMoney: Avici is a new neobank that launched through MetaDAO and aims to bridge crypto and fiat. It's a full custody wallet that lets you spend and send money anywhere. ▫️ @Revolut: Revolut is the most popular neobank in Europe. It's not non-custodial, and crypto deposits might take longer. When it comes to spending, it's the cheapest. ▫️ @offgridcash: Off-Grid is the first privacy-focused neobank on Solana that doesn't require KYC. The waitlist is now open. ▫️ @GetPyra: With Pyra, your assets stay in a self-custodial DeFi account. When you swipe your card, you’re not selling your crypto, you’re borrowing against it. ▫️ @surfcashx: Surfcash is the first neobank designed specifically for digital nomads, seamlessly connecting cryptocurrency with regional financial services like PromptPay in Thailand and VietQR in Vietnam. ▫️ @xplaceapp: Call itself the first real credit card of Solana, packed with perks like lounge access, points, and cashbacks. Indeed, low FX fees and the option to borrow against your assets. Another neobank I'm looking forward too is @stealf_finance who let's you do anonymous transactions powered by Arcium's decentralized supercompute