Rewards Got Too Exclusive. Debit Is Bringing Them Back.

For the past decade, if you wanted to follow the innovation in consumer rewards, you followed the premium credit card market which included travel portals, point transfer partners, elevated redemption rates, and signup bonuses that required a $10,000 spend in the first three months. Every major issuer was fighting over the same narrow slice of the population – affluent, creditworthy, and already well-served. The industry became exceptionally good at optimizing rewards for consumers who were already benefiting the most.

Here’s what that arms race actually produced: a rewards economy that has almost entirely excluded the majority of Americans. Not because those consumers don’t spend, and not because they don’t want rewards, but because the product was never built for them. If you don’t qualify for a premium credit card – or you simply choose not to carry one – the message from the financial industry has essentially been: you’re on your own. 

Meanwhile, where financial primacy actually lives, in debit and direct deposit, hasn’t changed. The moment a member routes their paycheck to an institution, that’s the relationship. It’s where everyday life runs – groceries, gas, rent, the streaming subscriptions that have replaced the cable bill. Credit cards may generate the flashy rewards programs, but debit and direct deposit are still the clearest indicators of a primary financial relationship. The industry has spent a decade optimizing for the signal that matters less while largely ignoring the one that matters most.

To continued reading, full article here: https://www.cutimes.com/2026/06/08/rewards-got-too-exclusive-debit-is-bringing-them-back/