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Who actually pays for your credit card rewards?

(Hint: It’s probably you.)

Shoppers love credit card rewards. These tantalizing extras come in offers like cash back, travel miles, and cash bonuses, and banks use them to get you to sign up for credit cards and spend. And they work — in 2018, 92 percent of all credit card spending was made on rewards cards.

Some people, like Brian Kelly, a.k.a “the Points Guy,” have even made a career out of maximizing these rewards. Ultimately, though, someone is paying for them. And right now, a hidden battle is going on about their future.

Watch the video above to find out more about the way banks fund credit card rewards — and why your travel perks and cash back offers are at risk of being scaled back.

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