I think what the major retailers (or at least a few of them) want out of this, really, is to force you into getting "their" cards. Target has one,
Amazon has one, Walmart has one, etc. Home Depot and Lowes have store cards, as do most of the big clothing stores like Kohls, Macys, etc. Just about every retailer has a card of some sort.
They want you to use the one they have a "deal" with. The problem is, getting all those cards will fry your credit and expose you to more potential fraud, not to mention who wants to carry that much plastic?