No more freebies: Companies crack down on customer perks and rewards

Via CNBC.com : "Inflation has squeezed consumer spending, said Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor for Circana, the market researcher formerly known as IRI and The NPD Group. As shoppers buy fewer discretionary and big ticket items, companies have taken a harder look at expenses, he said. If they can’t boost sales, they can try to impress investors with better margins." ---- I came across the above while searching for more information on T-Mobile's recent elimination of their $5-per-line discount for autopay, when using a credit card . People can still get it with a debit card or linking to a bank account, though, but a lot of people don't trust T-Mobile to keep banking info. (Way too many data breaches.) I've seen a few articles over the past few months that makes me think there's going to be a huge public backlash from the corporate world over high credit card processing interchange fees.