I enjoyed this post. Yes, there's some irony in the "save by spending" concept. As an asset development practitioner, I certainly don't recommend it for people on the financial margins. But as a thrifty middle-income parent who pays those credit card bills in full every month, I like having the rewards go into my 529 plan instead of rewards that just equate to more spending. I've been a Upromise member pretty much since they launched in 2001 and have socked away a few thousand dollars in my daughter's 529 with Upromise funds (so I think it's incorrect to say that the Upromise rewards don't accumulate interest -- they end up performing as well or as poorly as your 529 investments overall, at least in the kind of Upromise account I have, but maybe I've misunderstood what you mean). I wouldn't be surprised if Upromise has been responsible for a good number of people opening 529 accounts in the first place, and then starting to save into those accounts separate from their Upromise rewards. But I agree, if someone carries credit card balances from month-to-month and spends more because they think they're "saving for college," that's a real problem. I'd love to see some hard data from Upromise and the credit card companies that partner with Upromise about how much interest and penalties are being paid compared to the amount of rewards being earned. Are the Upromise cardholders a more disciplined and responsible lot than typical credit card customers? I doubt we'll find out. Thanks for posing these questions.