Our Methodology
How CardStack ranks and reviews credit cards
Our Commitment
CardStack is built on a simple principle: credit card recommendations should be driven by data, not advertising revenue. Our rankings are generated algorithmically — no card issuer can pay for placement or influence their score.
Data Sources
Every data point on CardStack is traceable to its source. We aggregate data from 36 independent sources across multiple categories:
Foundation Data
- Card Terms: Annual fees, reward rates, intro APR, foreign transaction fees, and benefit details from official card product pages
- Network Data: Card network (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) and associated benefits
- Issuer Information: Application rules, card family relationships, and upgrade/downgrade paths
Valuation Data
- Point Valuations: Monthly cents-per-point valuations from The Points Guy and other industry experts
- Transfer Partners: Airline and hotel transfer partner data with current transfer ratios
- Portal Rates: Shopping portal cashback rates for maximizing returns
Consumer Data
- CFPB Complaints: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint data for each card issuer
- Community Reports: Approval datapoints, retention offers, and real-world experiences from credit card communities
Industry Data
- MCC Codes: 981 merchant category codes mapped to reward categories for accurate earning calculations
- SEC Filings: Bank financial data from public filings for issuer health metrics
Scoring Methodology
Our card scores are calculated using a weighted formula that considers:
- Reward Value (40%): Base earn rate multiplied by point/mile valuation, plus bonus category earning potential
- Annual Fee Impact (20%): Fee relative to the value provided through rewards, credits, and benefits
- Benefits & Perks (20%): Travel credits, lounge access, insurance coverage, and other tangible benefits
- Accessibility (10%): Signup bonus value, approval likelihood, and application rules
- Consumer Satisfaction (10%): CFPB complaint rates and community sentiment
Editorial Independence
CardStack earns revenue through affiliate links — when you click a link and apply for a card, we may receive compensation from the card issuer. However:
- Affiliate relationships never influence our rankings or scores
- Cards without affiliate partnerships receive the same algorithmic treatment
- Our scoring formula is applied uniformly across all cards
- We disclose affiliate relationships on every page via our advertising disclosure
Data Update Frequency
Our data pipeline runs daily, pulling from all 36 sources to ensure card terms, valuations, and ratings reflect the latest information. Pages are automatically regenerated when underlying data changes.
All Data Sources (36)
- CFPB Consumer Complaints (cfpb) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- CFPB Credit Card Agreements DB (cfpb) — last updated: 2026-02-14
- CFPB TCCP Survey (cfpb) — last updated: pending
- Amex Card Products (issuer_page) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- Capital One Card Products (issuer_page) — last updated: pending
- Chase Card Products (issuer_page) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- Chase Guide to Benefits (issuer_page) — last updated: pending
- Citi Card Products (issuer_page) — last updated: pending
- Discover Card Products (issuer_page) — last updated: pending
- andenacitelli/credit-card-bonuses-api (github_api) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- CashbackMonitor.com (cashback_monitor) — last updated: 2026-02-14
- DoC Quarterly Categories (doc_blog) — last updated: pending
- DoC Retention Offers (doc_blog) — last updated: 2026-02-14
- FM Insurance Comparison (frequentmiler) — last updated: pending
- FrequentMiler Downgrade Guide (frequentmiler) — last updated: 2026-02-14
- FrequentMiler Merchant Offers (frequentmiler) — last updated: pending
- FrequentMiler Transfer Partners (frequentmiler) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- TPG Monthly Valuations (tpg) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- NerdWallet Point Valuations (nerdwallet) — last updated: pending
- Bankrate Point Valuations (bankrate) — last updated: pending
- AwardHacker Routes (awardhacker) — last updated: 2026-02-14
- AwardWallet Application Rules (awardwallet) — last updated: pending
- AwardWallet Lounge Data (awardwallet) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- AwardWallet Redemption Values (awardwallet) — last updated: pending
- OMAAT Point Valuations (omaat) — last updated: pending
- r/churning (reddit_churning) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- r/creditcards (reddit_creditcards) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- Visa Supplier Locator (visa_supplier) — last updated: pending
- Visa Merchant Search API (visa_api) — last updated: pending
- Mastercard Quick Reference Booklet (mc_pdf) — last updated: pending
- Visa Merchant Data Standards Manual (visa_pdf) — last updated: pending
- Citibank MCC Combined List (citibank_pdf) — last updated: pending
- classification.codes (classification_codes) — last updated: 2026-02-15
- Wayback Machine Card Terms (wayback_machine) — last updated: pending
- SEC 10-K Filings (sec_edgar) — last updated: 2026-02-14
- Manual Data Entry (manual) — last updated: pending
Questions?
If you have questions about our methodology or believe any data is incorrect, please contact us. We take data accuracy seriously and will investigate all reports.