But Zelle, Venmo, and similar are cash apps...? Why would you want to pay a 3% credit card fee per transaction just so you could accumulate a couple credit card points?
A couple reasons when eating that credit card fee is worth it for me:
1) Although it is accurate that paying the merchant fees yourself as a consumer makes it a loss on the credit card points, the points themselves can have a much higher exchange rate with transfer partners, which makes it not a loss. For example, with the credit card company their points are range from a value of half a cent to 2 cents each, a hotel or airline may have a fixed exchange rate based on a different metric such as quality or distance, that is completely decoupled from the current dollar value of the good and service. (ie. a fancy hotel might cost $300 one night and $1,700 another night, but only costs 25,000 points all nights. better to just have a balance of points)
2) Many of my purchases are expenses I deduct against my taxable earnings, and that makes me less price sensitive and more spend sensitive. The points I can use solely for my consumptive activities, which makes play time free.
