Methodology

How we collect card data, how we check it, and how the Finder turns it into a cost and a rank. The numbers on this page come from the same code that runs the Finder.

By Andrew L.

Where the data comes from

Only from the issuer's own published pages: the fees page, the cardholder terms and the help center. Not from forums, other review sites or affiliate dashboards. Every fee, eligibility and reward row stores the page it came from and the date we checked it, and the site shows both next to the value.

How a page becomes data

1Read. We re-read every official page we track every 7 days, at a low rate and respecting robots.txt. The text of each page is stored as a snapshot, so there is always evidence of what a page said and when. A page whose text has not changed is not processed again. Only its last checked date is refreshed.
2Extract. Two AI models read each changed page separately and pull out fees, limits, rewards and countries as structured values. Every value must come with the exact sentence it was read from. Anything the page does not say stays empty.
3Check in code. A script, not an AI, checks that each quote appears word for word in the stored snapshot, and that values make sense: known currencies, real country codes, percentages in range. A value whose quote cannot be found is thrown away.
4Reconcile. A more capable model compares the two runs with what we already hold, settles disagreements, tells real changes from page redesigns and writes each proposed change with a short summary. Tiered fees, conditions and anything the two runs disagree on always go through this step.
5A person approves. A person reviews every proposed change to fees, eligibility, limits, rewards or program status. Until it is approved, a value is shown with an extracted label. It becomes verified only when the change is approved and published.

The person who reviews the facts is Andrew L., the site's founder and editor. More about Andrew

Only two kinds of change go live without that review: a refreshed check date on a page that did not change, and a new card for which we hold no values yet.

What verified means

A card's label is worked out from its values, never set by hand.

Verified: Every value we hold for the card has been approved by a person, including at least one fee and one country.
Partly verified: Some values are approved and some are not yet. The card page shows which is which.
Extracted: The values were read from the issuer's pages and passed the quote check, but a person has not approved any of them yet.
Not verified: We track the card but hold no values for it yet.

A fee, limit or country we have not verified is shown as not verified. It is never shown as zero or as "no".

Three kinds of availability

We never merge these into one "available" flag, because they often differ for the same country.

Can applyResidency, and for some cards citizenship, at signup.
Physical card shipsWhether a plastic card is delivered to that country.
Card worksWhether payments and ATMs work there.

How fresh the data is

A crawler re-reads every source page every 7 days. When a page's text changes, a person reviews the difference before any value is updated. If a page cannot be reached, its data keeps the last verified date and starts to age.

A card's date is the oldest check date among its verified values, so one old value makes the whole card look older.

Label	Last checked	Effect on ranking
Verified	7 days or less	Best match only: 0.1% of yearly spend off the score
Aging	8 to 30 days	Best match only: half of that, 0.05% of yearly spend
Stale	More than 30 days	No bonus. Flagged, never hidden

The cost model

The Finder estimates what a card would cost you over a year, in your currency, at your spending. A negative number means rewards are worth more than the fees.

annual_net_cost = fixed_fees + percent_fees - rewards

fixed_feesissuance ÷ 3 + shipping ÷ 3 + annual_fee + monthly_fee × 12

percent_feesfx_fee × foreign_spend + purchase_fee × all_spend + (conversion_fee + top_up_fee) per top-up, 1 a month

rewardslowest reward row you get with no conditions: min(rate × spend, cap)

Issuance and shipping are spread over 3 years. We assume 1 top-up a month. A purchase fee counts on all your spending. A fixed charge per purchase is left out and named next to the figure.

The default profile is EUR 500 a month, with 30% of it spent in a foreign currency. In other currencies the amount scales with the exchange rate. You can change both in the Finder.
One-time fees, card issuance and shipping, are spread over 3 years.
An estimate needs these fees:
- Card issuance
- Annual fee
- Monthly fee
- Foreign currency (FX)
- Crypto conversion spread
The foreign currency fee only counts when some of your spending is in another currency. If one is missing, we still estimate with the fees the issuer does publish, as long as at least one of them is known, and say which ones the figure leaves out. If none is known, the card has no estimate.
A partial estimate adds up only the fees we have. Every fee it leaves out is named next to the figure, and the figure does not include it. In Best match, partial estimates rank after the complete ones, since a figure that leaves fees out can look cheaper than the real cost. When you sort by net cost, fees or rewards, a partial figure is shown as "at least" for a cost or "up to" for a gain. We only give one when at least the yearly, monthly, FX or conversion fee is known; a card fee alone is not enough.
One exception: when an issuer lists only a yearly card fee, we count the monthly fee as not charged, and the other way round. The card page then lists only the fee the issuer lists.
These are left out when we hold no row for them, because they are normally absent when free:
- Account monthly fee
- Shipping
- Top-up
- Purchase fee
They are listed as left out.
Unknown values are never treated as zero.
Fee rows are picked by card type and country. When several tiers could apply and we cannot tell which, the most expensive is used and flagged.
Only the reward you get with no extra conditions is counted: the base or lowest tier, for your country. Tiers that need staking, a paid plan, a lock or a minimum balance are left out, and so is any reward cap we cannot convert into your currency. A reward with no stated cap is counted without one and flagged. If you switch staking rewards on, the lowest staking tier counts.
Values a person has not approved yet count towards the estimate and are marked as unverified.
Amounts are converted with a rates table exported at build time. Rates: ECB euro reference rates and Rates By Exchange Rate API (open.er-api.com), as of 30 Sept 2026.

How ranking works

The Finder, the country pages and the best lists rank cards with the same code, in four steps.

1Hard filters. Cards you cannot apply for, or that lack a feature you asked for, are set aside. Cards we have not verified for your country are never ranked: they come after the ranked ones, without an estimate.
2Net cost. Lowest estimated yearly cost first. You can also sort by lowest fees, highest rewards, highest reward rate, most reliable data or newest card.
3Completeness. In Best match, Most reliable data and Newest, complete estimates come first. Next come partial estimates: cards where a fee the issuer does not list is left out of the figure, ordered by that figure. Cards with no estimate come last, and among those the card with more verified fees comes first, then by name. When you sort by net cost, fees or rewards, every estimate is ranked by that figure, and complete ones come first only on a tie. A partial figure is shown as "at least" for a cost or "up to" for a gain.
4Freshness. In Best match only, recently verified data earns a small bonus: 0.1% of yearly spend off the score when checked within 7 days, 0.05% when checked within 30 days.

The scoring code never reads affiliate fields. See the affiliate disclosure.

The best lists

Each best list is a saved filter on the ranking above. The rule decides which cards can appear. The order inside a list is always net cost per year.

All crypto cardsEvery card we track is on this list, with no filter. The order depends only on estimated net cost; cards whose availability in your country we have not verified are listed as not checked yet.
Debit cardsA card is on this list when its product type is debit. Prepaid, credit and secured cards are left out. A card with no product type on file is not assumed to be a debit card.
Credit cardsA card is on this list when its product type is credit. Debit, prepaid and secured cards are left out. A card with no product type on file is not assumed to be a credit card.
Prepaid cardsA card is on this list when its product type is prepaid. Debit, credit and secured cards are left out. A card with no product type on file is not assumed to be a prepaid card.
Visa cardsA card is on this list when its card network is Visa. Mastercard cards are left out. A card with no network on file is not assumed to be on Visa.
Mastercard cardsA card is on this list when its card network is Mastercard. Visa cards are left out. A card with no network on file is not assumed to be on Mastercard.
Bitcoin cardsA card is on this list when you can top it up with BTC or it earns rewards in BTC. A card with no assets on file is not assumed to lack BTC.
USDT cardsA card is on this list when its supported assets include USDT. A card with no assets on file is not assumed to lack it.
USDC cardsA card is on this list when its supported assets include USDC. A card with no assets on file is not assumed to lack it.
ATM withdrawalsA card is on this list when it comes as a physical card and has an ATM withdrawal fee on file. Virtual-only cards are left out. Cards that miss one of these are listed as not checked yet.
Self-custodyA card is on this list when its custody type is self-custody. Hybrid and custodial cards are left out.
No FX feeA card is on this list when it has a foreign exchange fee on file and that fee is zero. A card with no FX fee on file is not assumed to be free. A fee charged on every purchase also keeps a card off the list.
Stablecoin cardsA card is on this list when its supported assets include USDT or USDC. A card with no assets on file is not assumed to lack them.
No annual feeA card is on this list when its annual fee on file is zero and its monthly fee on file is zero. When an issuer lists only one of the two, the other counts as not charged. A card with neither fee on file, or with one that varies, is listed as not checked yet.
TravelA card is on this list when it comes as a physical card, has an ATM withdrawal fee on file and has an FX fee on file. Cards that miss one of these are listed as not checked yet.
Virtual onlyA card is on this list when it is sold as a virtual card and nothing else. Cards that also come as a physical card are left out.
Rewards and cashbackA card is on this list when it pays a reward on general spending, at a rate above zero, without token staking. Rewards for one spending category do not count. Rewards that need a paid plan or a minimum balance do count, but the cost estimate leaves them out. A card whose rewards all need staking is left out. A card with no rewards on file is not assumed to have none: it is listed as not checked yet.

A card with a missing fact is never guessed into a list or out of one. It sits in a "not checked yet" section under the list.

What search engines index

Every page works for every visitor. We only ask search engines to index pages with enough verified data to be useful. The rest are marked noindex.

A card page, when the card is verified or partly verified and at least one fee and one country are verified.
A country page, when at least 10 verified cards are available there, or 3 for the few countries readers often look up by name.
A comparison, when it is on our list of pairs and both cards are verified.
A best list, when it holds at least 3 cards.
Guides and these trust pages are always indexed.
Languages: pages in English, Romanian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, French and Italian can be indexed.

Corrections

Found a value that does not match the issuer's page? Write to corrections@cardsbench.com with the link. We check it against the source and correct it if it is wrong.