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According to [1]:

> On average, each cash-using household pays $149 to card-using households and each card-using household receives $1,133 from cash users every year. Because credit card spending and rewards are positively correlated with household income, the payment instrument transfer also induces a regressive transfer from low-income to high-income households in general.

[1] https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/public-policy-discuss...

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I have to say, I have never thought of it this way but it seems so common sense. Every deal has a cost associated with it of course but if only a certain subsection of people can appreciate that deal (see: non low income earners), then those who can't will eventually end up paying for it. The most egregious example would be over the top ceo bonuses. I always thought that the major problem with the unbanked or this who didn't have access to lines of credit were that they didn't have as much upward mobility but now I can see they're actively being made poorer with essentially accelerated inflation of the prices of everyday goods. I wonder if other services like Amazon Prime have a similar effect.

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