How we rate credit cards
Ratings are based on proprietary formulas that take into account the value of a card’s benefits, the costs of carrying and using the card, the complexity of the card’s benefits structure and other factors that affect its usefulness to the consumer. Read more.

How we rate bank accounts
We considered more than 50 data points for each bank, credit union and banking technology firm (or neobank). Read more.

How we rate mortgage lenders
We rate the lenders on a scale of 1 to 5 on the following criteria: rates and fees, ease of application, rate transparency and variety of loan types. Read more.

Get a full list of our methodologies here

We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. And we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free.

So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Here is a list of our partners.

Our Nerds rigorously researched top financial products to find the best ones in each category — from credit cards to mortgages to investing platforms — and created a list of winners. See 2024’s full list here.

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