Capitalism. America is addicted to credit. Hook 'em while they are young and financially dependant. You are either a producer or a consumer. The power is with the producers. The market decides on the winning company, until the other companies catch up with competing offers ("the first hit is free!").
Credit card companies make money from transactions and from people going late, but still paying up. You can get them to pay up, by threatening to nuke their credit score (this threat becomes stronger as more producers join in on this Moloch). You can get them to spend more by easing the process and offering cashbacks (which is like offering complementary bread in a restaurant and adding 10% to all prices).
It is not what consumers want, but it is what they "deserve". Producers get rich when middle- and low-class families don't have any money saved up to replace the broken fridge, so they have to rely on even more credit, forever casting them into financial serfdom. Consumers with credit card debt have zero leverage. Consumers who never default/go late, don't care, or turn their craving addiction into support of the system (nobody wants to admit that they, or the people they care about, are getting played a fool).
Removing these bizarre credit building plays, requires a change in law, a huge credit crunch/economy crash, or a cultural change. My money is on the economy crash. However, the entire credit building system proved futile during the home loan crash, so I am not holding my breath. After all, America is still a first-world country where contracting cancer can bankrupt you, while producers keep dumping toxins in the water and get off scot-free. It is ruthless. But you too can prove you are a good consumer, by building up your "social credit" score, starting with your teens.