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Message: <blockquote data-quote="arscott" data-source="post: 5377720" data-attributes="member: 17969">That's a ridiculous assertion.  Certainly the success of reward card programs are one metric that corporations use to judge stores or even individual employees, but that's not the reason for their existence.  After all, if they served no purpose beyond judging the stores, why not just judge the stores by other metrics and leave the cards out of it?The reality is, such cards serve several different purposes, depending on the type of card in question:1) Tracking customer behavior.  This is the primary purpose of the free discount cards you get at grocery stores, for example.  Because you swipe your card when you buy, the stores know your purchasing habits, and can use that information to determine what they should carry and how much they should charge.2) Ensuring customer loyalty.  This is the purpose of discount cards you pay for and "buy 10, get one free" cards.  If you payed money for a discount card, that means you'll be returning to that store again, instead of going to a different one that might otherwise be cheaper or more convenient.3) Straight up making money.  When you make a purchase with a credit card, the merchant who accepts the card gives a percentage of what you pay to the issuer of the card.  So if you use your Sears card as Sears instead of your Bank-issued Visa, then Sears doesn't have to pay that money.  And if you use it elsewhere, Sears gets a cut of that purchase, too.</blockquote>

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