I wish to god I had the link handy, but I saw the "Rewards" programs explained in painful detail before and actually shows that the card companies do no sharing of the profit margin, the 1% or 2% comes out of the retailers pocket on the backend when the transaction is processed.

In this particular article it talked about that being the reason why some retailers discouraged processing charges with certain cards that have typically higher rewards.

Sorry for the hand-waving, I know that is the worst way to make a point... "This guy I know told me that his friend said..." :(