Methodology
Product Review Methodology
How we evaluate credit cards, mortgages, and personal loans — and the boundaries we set on what a review can claim.
Credit card evaluation factors
- Purchase APR, introductory APR, and length of any promotional period.
- Annual fee, balance-transfer fee, cash-advance fee, and foreign-transaction fee.
- Reward structure, category caps, and redemption flexibility.
- Welcome offer terms and minimum-spend requirements.
- Purchase and travel protections, and other cardholder benefits.
- Credit profile the card is generally designed for.
- Long-term value net of the annual fee.
- Risk of the card if a balance is carried.
- Reasonable alternatives from other issuers.
Mortgage & loan evaluation factors
- Interest rate versus APR, and whether the rate is fixed or adjustable.
- Origination fees, discount points, closing costs, and prepayment penalties.
- Loan-to-value or debt-to-income considerations disclosed by the lender.
- Whether the product is a direct lender offer or a marketplace listing.
- Consumer protections, hardship options, and servicing reputation.
What we do not claim
- We do not publish approval odds. Approval decisions belong to the lender.
- We do not promise a rate, a bonus, or a credit-limit outcome.
- We do not label a product best without saying best for what.
- We do not rank products by affiliate compensation.
How compensation is handled
Some links on product and comparison pages may be affiliate links. Compensation does not determine inclusion, ordering, or editorial tone. See our affiliate & advertising disclosure for details, including how disclosures are placed near product recommendations rather than buried in the footer.
Freshness
Rate- and fee-sensitive product pages show a last verified date and a direct link to the issuer's or lender's official terms. When we cannot verify a specific number, the page describes the product in educational ranges rather than presenting stale specifics as current.