SECRET HISTORY OF THE CREDIT CARD PRODUCED BY David Rummel & Nelli Kheyfets CORRESPONDENT Lowell Bergman WRITTEN BY Lowell Bergman & David Rummel DIRECTED BY David Rummel
NARRATOR: The credit card companies do make a percentage on each transaction, but Stein is not their ideal customer because, like 55 million Americans, he pays his bills off every month and doesn't pay any interest.
BEN STEIN: The credit card companies hate people like me, who pay off our bills every month. And I know that because I ran into a fellow I went to high school with on the street, and he told me he worked for a credit card company. And I told him about how much I use credit cards and how I pay them off every month, and he said, "Oh, we hate you. We hate you guys. We call you deadbeats."