Do you know how your credit card rewards work?

Credit card rewards programs are better than ever, but some businesses say that they’re being asked to foot the bill for these perks, and that the government needs to step in to reign in sky-high processing fees.

Susan Krashinsky Robertson covers the retail industry for the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business. She joins us to demystify the world of credit cards, and explain how the cost of your rewards program might be eating into the bottom line of Canadian merchants.

“When you pay your annual fee… that’s not the thing paying for the points that might get you that vacation, or that cash rebate,” she said, “what’s paying for those points is these swipe fees.”

So what might the government do to help business owners impacted by high processing fees? And what do you need to know the next time you whip out a card and chase the points during your holiday shopping?

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