A recent TV commercial sees two brothers “competing” to pay for transactions at shops, fast food and gas stations. To the sound of Duelin’ Banjos they “race” to pay before the other and proudly declare they’ve “Got it!”

Why? Because by “getting it” with their Chase cashback debit cards they get – you guessed it – cashback. This is usually a small percentage of the transaction’s total – upto 3% in Chase’s case, but I’m prepared to wager it’s a lot less most of the time.

Why is this commercial annoying and stupid? Because if the brothers actually let the other pay, they’d save ALL of the cost of the transaction. What’s better? Getting 3% back on a $75 purchase, or just keeping all of the $75?