MS explains why you can't use exact change on XBL
We're going to be honest with you: We hate MS points. It's not because they're inconvenient, if anything, they're too convenient, and far too easy to spend. Whenever we get a mittful of them it's like when we go to another country where the money looks so dissimilar to our own that we just pretend all the bills are gift certificates. If we were paid in MS points, we would be broke in a week.
One of the other (perhaps more concrete) issues that some users have is being forced to buy more points than they need, something that so annoyed 1UP's Patrick Klepek that he went out and found out why: "The reason why we do that, the core reason, is around credit card transaction fees," said Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg. "If we do this in bulk, we don't have to burden the consumer with the transaction fees, or ourselves or publishers."
...OK, you win this round, Greenberg. Now, explain why points aren't worth a penny a piece, and we'll treat you to a (child's size) ice cream in a flavor of your choice.
