Chip and dip

Consider the debit card, for instance. It's much like the chips that casinos give you to render you blind, so you won't see that $50 chip you just dropped hitting 15 in blackjack as real money.

Just like casinos ply you with free booze to encourage you to play, the banks offer unfettered access to your money just hoping you'll spend. They make a percentage on each debit-card transaction, much like credit cards, so the more you drop the more they make. It's initially coming out of the merchant's hide, not theirs, but ultimately it's the consumer who pays.
"SKIP"