Comment by throwaway589275

No one is reading the paper:

> We find a redistribution from low- to high-FICO consumers regardless of income. While super- prime high-income consumers benefit the most from reward credit cards ($20.1 in net rewards relative to classic cards), high-income consumers with sub-prime FICO scores on average pay the most (-$12.8). Meanwhile, super-prime low-income consumers ben- efit less ($9.7), but sub-prime low-income consumers also pay less (-$2.6). Thus, high- income consumers with high FICO scores benefit from reward credit cards largely at the expense of high-income consumers with low FICO scores.

> As our findings are inconsistent with the “reverse Robin Hood” hypothesis

tl;dr: it's a stupid tax. People with high incomes who are still financially unsavvy end up indirectly subsidizing lower income, savvier CC users.