Who actually pays for your credit card rewards?

Shoppers love credit card rewards. Banks promise offers of cash back, bonus miles, and cash bonuses to get you to sign up and spend. In 2018, 92% of all credit card spending was made on a rewards card. Some people, like Brian Kelly, a.k.a "The Points Guy," have even made a career our of maximizing these rewards. But who ends up actually paying for all these rewards? (Hint: it’s probably you.)

Crow surprises Japanese commuters by attempting to buy train ticket from a machine【Video】

「窓 カラス」
カードを使って電車🚃に乗ろうとしたカラス💳
連休かみさんが、東京で遭遇した出来事でした。笑 pic.twitter.com/Y2yDtOTae9

— kinoshita shoji (@kinoshi42155049) May 1, 2018

The clever bird even steals a customer’s credit card to pay for the train fare.


If you’ve been to Japan before, you’ve probably stumbled upon some surprising things that stand out as being very different to everyday life back home. One of these things might be the efficiency of the country’s transport system, or the non-confrontational nature of the people, or if you’ve spent any length of time here, the huge population of smart, big black crows.

For many locals here, crows are such a prominent aspect of everyday life that people have to cover their trash with mesh to deter the birds from getting into their scraps, and local governments set up crow traps at parks and temples to cull the population, which has been rising steadily every year.

The big black birds are so used to living alongside humans that they’re not afraid of invading their personal spaces, and for one particular crow spotted recently, that means cutting the line at the station to buy a train ticket from the automatic machines…and stealing a commuter’s credit card to pay for it in the process.