Editorial Policy: How We Rate and Check Cards

This page describes how content on CreditCardSignups.com (the "Site") is produced, checked, rated and corrected. Every review, ranking, guide and tool on the Site follows it. If you find a page that does not, tell us at editorial@creditcardsignups.com.

Who is responsible for content

The editorial team of CreditCardSignups.com, operated by the operator of CreditCardSignups.com, is responsible for everything published on the Site. Editors decide which cards to cover, what a review says, how a card is rated and when a page is updated or corrected. No issuer, partner or advertiser makes those decisions or reviews content before it is published. Reviews and guides are published in the name of the editorial team, and the team answers for them.

How content is produced

We use software tools, including automated drafting and data tools, to help produce and maintain content. Editors review pages before publication and are responsible for what is published. If a page contains an error, the responsibility is ours, and the correction process below applies regardless of how the page was drafted.

How we check card terms

Card terms come from the issuer's public terms and application pages. We make reasonable efforts to check a card's welcome bonus, spending requirement, annual fee, interest rate ranges, foreign transaction fee, earning rates and headline benefits against those sources before publication. Every card surface on the Site shows the date its terms were last checked and links to the issuer's terms page.

Terms change without notice. We re-check cards periodically, and we re-check a specific card when we learn that its terms have changed, whether from the issuer, from a reader or from our own checks. We do not promise a fixed turnaround, and there can be a gap between an issuer's change and our update. The issuer's current terms control in every case. Confirm the offer on the issuer's site before you apply.

How we rate cards

Every card carries four sub-ratings, each on a scale of 1 to 5.

• Rewards. Earning rates relative to comparable cards, the value and flexibility of redemptions, and the welcome bonus.
• Benefits. Travel and purchase protections, statement credits, lounge access, status and other perks, judged by how much value a typical cardholder can get from them.
• Fees. The annual fee and other costs judged against what the card delivers. A high fee is not a failure if the card returns more than it costs.
• Flexibility. Application restrictions, rules that limit bonuses for existing customers, how easily points combine with other cards, and options to downgrade or upgrade.

The overall rating is a weighted average of the four. Rewards and benefits carry more weight than fees and flexibility, because they vary most between cards and matter most to the value a cardholder receives. Ratings are editorial judgments made by the team after reviewing the card's terms and its position among comparable cards. They are opinions about a card in general, not predictions of what any individual will earn.

How hubs are ordered

Inside each category hub, cards are ordered by editorial rank first. Editorial rank reflects how the team would choose among the cards in that category and is set without regard to compensation. When two or more cards have the same editorial rank, compensation breaks the tie and the card that pays us appears first. This rule is disclosed in the Advertiser Disclosure. Compensation can also affect featured placements on the home page and elsewhere, as that page explains.

Independence from advertisers

We receive compensation from third-party affiliate and advertising partners when readers apply for cards through offer links and are approved. That compensation pays for the Site. It does not buy a rating, a review, a recommendation or a place in a ranking above a higher-ranked card. Partners and issuers do not see content before publication, do not approve it and cannot require changes to it. A partner may report a factual error in a card's terms, just as any reader can, and we treat those reports the same way. The How We Make Money page explains the model in plain language.

Corrections

Report an error to editorial@creditcardsignups.com. Include the address of the page, the specific figure or claim you believe is wrong, and where we can verify the correct information, ideally the issuer's page. We review every report. When we confirm an error, we correct the page promptly, add a dated note describing the change, and update the last-checked date where card terms were involved. We do not remove pages or alter ratings because a reader or partner would prefer a different result.

No guarantees

Content on the Site is general information, not financial, legal, tax or credit advice, and it does not account for your circumstances. We make reasonable efforts to be accurate, but we do not guarantee that any offer is current, that any figure is correct at the moment you read it, or that you will be approved for any card. The Terms of Use set out the limits of what the Site provides.