There is no annual fee. I only use it at places where there is no surcharge for using a credit card. And this is only worthwhile if you pay it off every month so you aren’t paying interest.

You’re right that there is no free money and it is a cut of the merchant fees. It’s kinda fucked because places that charge the same for cash and credit have to charge more to cover the merchant fees and then people with good credit and good credit cards get a kickback while everyone else pays the inflated prices or even worse, get hit with ripoff fees and interest.

I try to use cash or debit at small local businesses so they aren’t getting slammed with fees, but places like that are usually pretty quick to add surcharges for credit cards.

Side note, in the US the CC companies used to be able to refuse to do business with anyone who charged a different price for cash vs credit. Since losing the ability to take payments via Visa or Master Card would be super detrimental to most businesses, only the most under the radar mom and pop shops added CC surcharges. There was a recent court case where this was basically struck down so now we’re seeing CC surcharges getting added on at all kinds of places. We seem to be in a weird transition but I think this will eventually get us away from this situation where poor people end up subsidizing the credit card rewards for rich people.

IDK if it’s available in Canada but you might want to check out the Fidelity rewards card. It shoves 2% into your Fidelity investment account each quarter. No fees, no fuss, no faffing around with points and tiers and other bullshit.

I’m a gen Xer in the US. I and most of my peer group have our own places. The ones with good careers and stable relationships generally have houses in more desirable areas, but even folks with more blue collar or less fancy jobs have a place further out in the suburbs or have a small condo. The only younger people I know who own are either in a situation where they both make serious money (like doctors or do well tech), come from money or occasionally just make it happen with just serious hustle and grit (and even then, I’m amazed they can do it).

It’s so heartwarming seeing a country where the government tries to fix everyday problems.