[8bitben]

As for Wayne, while he may earn an implicit interest return in the form of Starbucks points, by forgoing a card payment he's giving up on the associated cash-back or airline points.

I don't agree with this. While merchants pay interchange fees based on the value of card transactions (plus a flat rate per transaction IIRC), as a cardholder rewards are earned only as a percentage of the total purchase, and are not influenced by the number of transactions.

So I earn 4% back on the value of all my Starbucks transactions, regardless of whether the purchase is made via the app or my card. I am willing to forgo a couple pennies in interest on my rolling $15-20 balance to have the convenience of mobile ordering.

If you use the system efficiently, I see it as a net value add as a customer.

[ben1040]

Yep. And you're still getting any special merchant-specific rewards the card company might offer you. I just reloaded my Starbucks card using my Amex, and Amex had a promo that offered a 10% credit back on Starbucks purchases, up to $5.

So I threw $50 on my card, I get 10% off the coffee, and earn back a bit on the Starbucks reward points.

[kube-system]

I thought the same thing. I fill my Starbucks balance up with a credit card, and I earn points on that. And that money is basically a 30 day free loan anyway. It's basically a leveraged investment payable in coffee with almost zero risk.