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Harvard study finds cash and debit card users pay $30 billion more than credit card users

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• A new Harvard study estimates that credit card interchange fees transfer about $30 billion annually from cash and debit card users to credit card users.

• Researchers found the payment system creates a regressive wealth transfer, with lower- and middle-income households effectively subsidizing rewards earned by higher-income consumers.

• The study concludes that consumer sorting and lower fees negotiated by large merchants reduce the size of the transfer but do not eliminate it.

Paying with cash or a debit card will definitely prevent you from running up an unmanageable credit card bill. Theres nothing wrong with that.

However, a new study from researchers at Harvard University, Stanford University, Northwestern University and Georgia State University concludes that America's payment system redistributes roughly $30 billion annually from cash and debit card users to consumers who use rewards credit cards.

The study, "Who Pays for Payments?", examined payment data from approximately one million U.S. merchants and found that interchange fees the charges merchants pay when customers use credit cards are largely passed through to consumers in the form of higher retail prices.

Because merchants generally do not charge different prices based on payment method, all shoppers help cover the cost of those fees. If you pay with cash or a credit card, you dont get any kind of break. However, shopping with a cashback credit card give that consumer a slightly lower price.

"All consumers pay higher retail prices, but the users of high-interchange-fee credit cards capture most of the rewards," the authors wrote.

The researchers estimate that the resulting cross-subsidy transfers about $9.2 billion annually from households earning less than $150,000 per year to higher-income households, who are more likely to use rewards credit cards and premium cards with richer benefits.

Loss of purchasing power

According to the study, cash users effectively lose about 96 basis points of purchasing power because of interchange fees, while users of regulated debit cards lose about 47 basis points. By contrast, users of basic and premium rewards credit cards gain approximately 54 basis points in purchasing power through rewards funded by merchant fees.

The researchers compared the impact to a hidden tax. They estimate that interchange fees have an effect similar to increasing sales taxes for cash users by about 16% and for regulated debit card users by about 8%, while effectively reducing sales taxes for credit card users.

However, the study challenges the conventional view that every cash or debit user is equally subsidizing every rewards cardholder. Researchers found that consumers often shop at different types of merchants depending on their preferred payment method. High-income consumers who use premium credit cards tend to shop at merchants frequented by similar customers, reducing the amount of cross-subsidization.

In addition, large merchants such as grocery chains and major retailers often negotiate lower interchange rates or receive sector-specific discounts. Because these merchants are also where shoppers using different payment methods are most likely to overlap, the lower fees reduce the amount of redistribution that occurs.

The study estimates that consumer sorting reduces the annual transfer by about $8.6 billion, while merchant fee discounts provide an additional $1.7 billion benefit to cash and debit users. Together, those factors cut the size of the transfer by roughly 25%, though they do not eliminate it.

Researchers traced a COVID-19 outbreak to a shared ventilation system in a multifamily building

• A new study suggests airborne viruses can move between some apartments through shared bathroom ventilation systems.

• Researchers investigated a COVID-19 outbreak in a Spanish apartment building and found ventilation ducts were the most likely transmission route.

• The findings highlight the importance of building ventilation and indoor air quality in multifamily housing.

A study published in PLOS One examined a COVID-19 outbreak that occurred in a seven-story apartment building in Santander, Spain, during the early months of the pandemic. Researchers found evidence suggesting the virus likely spread between apartments through a shared bathroom ventilation system rather than through direct contact between residents.

The findings add to growing research showing that airborne viruses can move through connected indoor spaces. While the study focused on one specific building design, it offers new insight into how ventilation systems may influence the spread of infectious diseases in multifamily housing.

We tend to think that if we shut the door in our apartment, we are safe and cant get infected. But our study shows that, depending on the ventilation system in place, that may not be the case, senior author Shelly Miller said in a news release.

The study

The outbreak occurred in June 2020 when 15 residents living in four vertically stacked apartments became infected with COVID-19.

To understand how the virus spread, researchers analyzed epidemiological data, genetically sequenced virus samples, measured airflow and air pressure within the building, and used computer simulations to model the movement of airborne particles.

The building used a shared vertical bathroom ventilation shaft, a design common in many older buildings in Spain. Unlike modern systems that rely on mechanical fans, these ducts use natural airflow to move air upward and out of the building.

The findings

Researchers discovered that weather conditions could sometimes reverse airflow within the shaft, pushing air back into apartments. They also found that running a kitchen exhaust hood could increase air movement between units.

In one experiment, elevated carbon dioxide levels were detected inside a vacant apartment, suggesting that air from occupied units was entering the space.

Based on the combined evidence, the researchers concluded that the shared bathroom ventilation duct system was the most likely pathway for transmission during the outbreak.

What this means for consumers

The study does not suggest that all apartment buildings pose the same risk. In fact, the researchers note that the ventilation design examined is uncommon in newer buildings and is relatively rare in the United States today.

Still, the findings underscore the importance of ventilation and indoor air quality in multifamily housing. According to the researchers, connected air spaces can sometimes allow contaminants to move farther than people might expect.

While this is a special building design more common in Spain, it illustrates a broader concern that even if you are far from the source, if your air is connected, you can still get sick, said Miller. This can happen in a multifamily apartment building through the ducts, in a hotel between the hallway and rooms off the hallway, in office buildings between offices, or on a cruise ship.

The authors say building designers, managers, and policymakers should pay closer attention to ventilation systems, particularly in older buildings. They also point to measures such as properly designed exhaust fans with backflow prevention features as potential ways to reduce risk.

For renters and homeowners, the study serves as a reminder that healthy indoor air depends not only on what happens inside a single apartment, but also on how an entire building is designed and ventilated.

The service just might be what many parents are looking for

• Human-reviewed content: Every video is screened by human moderators before it reaches kids, helping reduce the surprises that can come with algorithm-driven recommendations.

• Built for families: Parents get age-based filters, screen-time controls, and custom child profiles to create a safer viewing experience.

• Budget-friendly option: The service is free with ads or $4.99 per month without ads, with access to more than 40,000 kid-friendly episodes.

Between monitoring YouTube videos, managing screen time, and worrying about what an algorithm might recommend next, many parents feel that keeping their kids safe online is a never-ending job.

On the heels of my article on YouTube-style' kids content invading streaming apps, I wanted to share a solution that can actually help parents in the fight.

Enter the safe streaming service called Kidoodle.TV.The company believes the problem isn't that parents aren't doing enough. It's that many online platforms place too much of the responsibility on parents in the first place.

What exactly is Kidoodle.TV?

Launched back in 2014, Kidoodle.TV is a streaming service designed specifically for children and families.

Unlike your traditional video-sharing platforms that rely heavily on algorithms to recommend content, Kidoodle.TV says every piece of content on their platform is reviewed by human moderators before it becomes available to viewers.

The company's goal is to create a streaming environment where parents don't have to constantly worry about what video might appear next.

That approach has helped the platform stand out, as many parents grow increasingly frustrated with content recommendations, autoplay features, and the challenge of monitoring what children watch online.

Cost breakdown of Kidoodle.TV

If you dont mind watching some ads, the streaming service is completely free. If you want ad-free, youll pay $4.99/month for the premium version.

Here is whats included in both plans:

• 40,00050,000+ episodes of kid-friendly content
• Human-vetted content rather than open-user uploads
• Individual child profiles
• Age-based content filters
• Screen-time controls and bedtime settings
• Access on phones, tablets, smart TVs, streaming sticks, and web browsers
• Available on more than 1,000 devices in over 160 countries

Why parents are taking notice

One of the biggest concerns parents have with mainstream platforms is unpredictability.

A child may start watching an age-appropriate video, only to be served recommendations that parents find questionable, overly commercialized, or simply not aligned with their family's values.

Kidoodle.TV says its human-review process is designed to reduce that risk.

Instead of relying solely on automated systems, content is screened before it reaches the platform. The result is a curated library focused on children's entertainment, educational programming, music, games, and family-friendly content.

For many parents, that can provide a level of reassurance that is difficult to find on larger platforms.

Features built with families in mind

Beyond content moderation, Kidoodle.TV includes several tools designed specifically for parents.

These features include:

• Custom viewing profiles
• Age-based content controls
• Screen-time management settings
• Parental controls
• No public comment sections
• Child-focused programming libraries

The service allows parents to tailor the viewing experience to the age and maturity level of each child rather than relying on one-size-fits-all settings.

A different approach to screen time

Kidoodle.TV isn't positioning itself as a way to eliminate screen time. Instead, the company argues that parents should have access to platforms that make screen time safer and easier to manage.

That distinction matters because many families aren't trying to remove technology from their children's lives. They're trying to find age-appropriate ways to use it.

New research suggests refeeding could matter more than the fast

• A new study found that the benefits of fasting may depend heavily on what happens when eating resumes.

• Researchers discovered that shutting down fat-burning processes after a fast appeared to be important for lifespan extension in laboratory worms.

• The findings could help scientists better understand the biology of aging, though the research has not yet been proven in humans.

Fasting has long been studied for its potential effects on health and longevity. Scientists have known for years that calorie restriction and intermittent fasting can extend lifespan in a variety of organisms, but exactly why that happens has remained something of a mystery.

Now, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center say they may have uncovered an important piece of the puzzle.

Their findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that the life-extending benefits associated with fasting may not come from the fasting period alone. Instead, a critical factor could be how the body responds when food becomes available again after a fast.

Our discoveries shift the focus toward a neglected side of the metabolic coin the refeeding phase. Our data suggest that the health-promoting effects of intermittent fasting are not merely a product of the fast itself, but are dependent on how the metabolic machinery recalibrates during the subsequent transition back to a fed state, study leader Peter Douglas, Ph.D., said in a news release.

The study

The study was conducted in Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny roundworm frequently used in aging research because many of its biological pathways are similar to those found in other animals.

While the results don't directly translate to humans, they provide new clues about the cellular processes that may influence aging.

During fasting, the body shifts from using readily available glucose for energy to breaking down stored fat. The researchers focused on a protein called NHR-49, which helps activate this fat-burning process when nutrients are scarce.

The results

Initially, scientists expected that this fat-burning activity would be responsible for the lifespan benefits linked to fasting. However, experiments revealed something unexpected.

Even when the worms lacked NHR-49, fasting still increased lifespan and helped older worms maintain more youthful movement.

The more significant finding emerged after the fasting period ended. Researchers discovered that when worms were refed, a separate biological mechanism switched off NHR-49 and slowed fat breakdown. When scientists interfered with this shutdown process and kept fat-burning pathways active after refeeding, the lifespan benefits of fasting disappeared.

In other words, the ability to transition efficiently from a fasting state back to a fed state appeared to be crucial.

What this means for consumers

The findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that metabolic flexibility the body's ability to adapt to changing nutrient conditions may play an important role in healthy aging. Rather than focusing solely on what happens during fasting, scientists may need to pay closer attention to the biological changes that occur when eating resumes.

It's important to note that this study was conducted in laboratory worms, not people. The researchers say much more work is needed before these discoveries could lead to recommendations for human health or aging.

Still, the research offers an intriguing new perspective. If future studies confirm similar mechanisms in humans, scientists may eventually be able to develop treatments that mimic some of fasting's benefits without requiring people to follow strict fasting regimens.

For now, the study highlights just how important the body's recovery and rebuilding phase may be after periods without food.