Methodology v1.0
How we rate financial products
Every rate verified against the issuer's page and stamped with the date. Four scoring criteria applied the same way to every product. A public graveyard for the products that failed. This is the version you can hold us to.
The short version
- 1.Every published number (APY, APR, annual fee, minimum) is verified against the issuer's own page and stamped with an "as of" date.
- 2.Products are scored on four criteria: value, transparency, track record, accessibility. Same rubric for every product in a vertical.
- 3.Closed, failed, and renamed products go to a public graveyard instead of being silently deleted.
- 4.Affiliate commissions never move a score or a ranking. The full list of what does not count is in section 4.
1. Rate verification and "as of" dates
The single biggest failure of financial comparison content is stale numbers presented as current. Our rule: no number ships without a source and a date. Before a rate appears on Financeradar, we open the issuer's own page (not a press release, not another comparison site), record the figure, and stamp it with the verification date. That date is shown to readers next to the number.
APY, minimum balance, monthly fees, withdrawal limits, and whether the rate is promotional. Source: the bank's rate page and account disclosures.
APR range, annual fee, rewards rates, bonus terms and spend requirements. Source: the issuer's pricing and terms document.
Fees, minimum investment, accreditation requirements, and target-return language. Source: the platform's offering pages and regulatory filings.
Rates are re-verified on a schedule, and any number flagged as stale (by us or by a reader) is re-checked before it appears in a ranking again. When a correction lands, the "as of" stamp updates with it.
2. The four scoring criteria
Beyond the raw numbers, every product gets an editorial score built from four criteria. Each is scored from documented evidence, and the four are weighted equally. The same rubric applies to every product in a vertical, whether or not its links pay a commission.
Value
Fees vs benefitsWhat you pay against what you get. For a card: annual fee against realistic rewards, not best-case spend patterns. For savings: APY against fee drag and minimums. For private credit: platform fees against the return profile after fees.
Transparency
Fine print honestyHow honestly the product describes itself. Promotional rates with buried expiry dates, teaser APYs on capped balances, "target returns" with no track record behind them, and fee schedules that take four clicks to find all cost points here.
Track record
History and conductYears operating, regulatory actions, enforcement history, and failures. A platform two years old with no downturn behind it scores differently from an institution that has operated through several cycles. Regulator filings and public enforcement records are the source.
Accessibility
Who can actually use itMinimum deposits, credit score requirements, accreditation rules, and geographic restrictions. A product that is excellent for accredited investors with $25,000 minimums is scored in that context and labeled accordingly, not sold as an option for everyone.
How the score is used
The score sorts products within a category and decides which ones qualify for our top picks. It is an editorial judgment from documented evidence, not a promise about performance. Where a criterion cannot be assessed (a platform too new to have a track record, for example), we say so on the page instead of guessing.
3. The graveyard: closed, failed, and renamed products
Most comparison sites quietly delete a product when it shuts down, which erases exactly the information a careful reader needs. Financeradar keeps closed, failed, and renamed products listed with their history.
Knowing that PeerStreet went bankrupt, or that Yieldstreet rebranded after investor losses, changes how you read the category. Sector failure rates are part of the risk picture, and hiding them makes every surviving product look safer than it is.
What the product was, when and why it closed or changed (bankruptcy, wind-down, acquisition, rebrand), what happened to customer funds where documented, and links to primary sources: filings, regulator notices, official announcements.
A rebrand does not wipe a track record. When a product renames, the old name, the date, and the reason stay on the page, so the history follows the product instead of disappearing with the old domain.
4. What does not influence a rating
- ×Affiliate commissions. Some product links pay us when a reader opens an account. Those links are disclosed, and the commission has zero effect on the score, the ranking, or the cons list. Full breakdown at /how-we-make-money.
- ×Provider payments of any kind. No issuer or platform can pay for placement, a score change, a review edit, or the removal of a con. There is no price for any of these.
- ×Provider outreach. Emails asking us to "take another look" are treated as input for the next scheduled review, nothing more. Disputes with a primary source attached get re-verified.
- ×Marketing volume. Heavy ad spend and viral promotion do not move a score. Documented changes to the product (a fee cut, a rate change, a regulatory action) do.
- ×Editor sympathy. The criteria are the criteria. Personal opinion goes in the written take, where readers can see it and argue with it.
5. How often things get refreshed
Re-verified on a rolling schedule, and immediately when a reader or provider flags a change with a source. The "as of" date tells you exactly how fresh each number is.
Re-scored when the product materially changes: a repricing, a new fee, a regulatory action, or a track-record event.
This page is reviewed quarterly. Material changes get a version bump at the top and an entry in the changelog below.
6. Methodology changelog
Financeradar launches with date-stamped rate verification, the four-criteria rubric (value, transparency, track record, accessibility), and the product graveyard. Initial coverage: credit cards, high-yield savings, private credit.
Think a rating is wrong? Tell us why.
Disputes go to louis@dupple.com. Bring the URL plus a primary source: the issuer's page, a filing, or a regulator notice. We re-verify and document the outcome, and corrections update the "as of" stamp.