Rewards cards already bribe me at 2% (and there are better offers). Big merchants often offer a store card, sometimes a store card that's also a general use card, but they typically bribe people with 5%.
The cards that pay 2%+ are the premium cards that charge merchants 4%+. If you're competing against that rate, you could give a 4% cash back.
Those big merchant store cards are a likely path for how my scenario plays out. Imagine if a half dozen of those big merchant store cards merge, ditch their visa/mastercard pairing and provide an attractive path for other merchants to join.
I really don't get why it took so long for a bank to buy Discover.
It seems like such a good deal to get higher margin and then you could ultimately offer consumers better cashback or w/e rewards than a less vertically integrated card could.
Rewards cards already bribe me at 2% (and there are better offers). Big merchants often offer a store card, sometimes a store card that's also a general use card, but they typically bribe people with 5%.