How The Motley Fool Ascent Rates Credit Cards

At The Motley Fool, we take our mission to make the world smarter, happier, and richer very seriously. That includes making sure the credit cards we feature on The Ascent are heavily vetted by our team of experts, so you can feel confident the picks on our site are fantastic choices for most people.

Our credit card rating philosophy

When rating credit cards, we consider the most important features for the average user, based on our credit card preferences survey of 2,000 Americans. We tend to favor credit cards with low fees and interest rates, competitive rewards, and welcome bonuses and perks. Our core objectives for our recommended selections are:

• Editorially independent (NOT influenced by partners)
• Easy to understand
• Applicable to any card
• Scoring is weighted, and scaled to 5 stars

Meet our Head of Ratings, Brian Frey

How we score credit cards

We evaluate all credit cards across four main criteria: value, welcome experience, fees, and perks. These criteria are tailored to common features found in each credit card category. Credit cards are assigned a point value for each score, out of 3, then adjusted to a 5-star scale, rounded to the nearest half point. We may apply a grading curve to our scoring, depending on the credit card category (e.g., a grading curve for travel cards may be different than that of balance transfer cards).

• 3 = High
• 2 = Medium
• 1 = Low

Our scores are weighted as:

Value Score: 50%

• High value cards have an average rewards rate at 2% or above (or 2x points or miles), or matching 21-month 0% intro APR offers.
• Medium value cards have an average rewards rate below 2% (or 2x points or miles), a 21-month 0% intro APR offer, or matching 18-month offers.
• Low value cards have an average rewards rate of 1% or below, or 0% intro APR offers below 18-months.

Welcome Experience Score: 20%

• High welcome experience cards offer a bonus worth at least $600, or no credit check or deposit required.
• Medium welcome experience cards offer a bonus worth at least $200, or a secured deposit under $200.
• Low welcome experience cards offer a bonus under $200, or a secured deposit over $200.

Fee Score: 20%

• High scoring fee cards have no annual fee, or a BT fee of 3%.
• Medium scoring fee cards have an annual fee under $300, or a BT fee of 5%.
• Low scoring fee cards have an annual fee over $300.

Perks Score: 10%

• High perks cards have benefits or credits valued greater than the annual fee, or the ability to graduate to an unsecured card.
• Medium perks cards have purchase or travel protections, or no foreign transaction fee.
• Low perks cards have no valuable benefits or protections, and have foreign transaction fees.

How we evaluate value: first, we determine a credit card's most compelling primary user intent -- in most cases this is either a rewards program or 0% intro APR offer. In any case, our value score is designed to reflect a card's ability to save you the most money.

We start by comparing to marketplace benchmarks: 2% flat-rate cash back (or 2x points or miles) for rewards programs, and matching 21-month terms on balance transfers and purchases for 0% intro APR offers. For cards offering tiered category rewards, we calculate an average annual rewards rate informed by our average monthly spending research, and the percentage of purchases Americans make with credit cards.

Why we don't score regular APR (annual percentage rate): most credit cards have a variable APR, which changes based on the prime rate and an individual's creditworthiness. We're firm believers in paying off your card's statement balance in full, and because APR can be subjective based on individual credit factors, we don't include it in our ratings.

Our credit card ratings methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates and 0% intro APR offers, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and purchase protections.

Our highest-rated credit cards have:

• ​​High value through rewards or 0% intro APR offers
• Attainable welcome bonuses that make up for any annual fees
• Low annual fees or a balance transfer fee of 3%
• Top perks such as purchase and travel protections, no foreign transaction fees, travel credits, and status upgrades

Travel credit cards

Our travel credit card rating criteria Includes rewards systems and bonus categories, rewards redemption flexibility, and sign-up bonuses.

Our highest-rated travel credit cards have:

• Rewards system and bonus categories (the earn rate of flat-rate rewards, or tiered spending categories)
• Rewards redemption flexibility and points programs (booking travel, transfer partners, statement credit, etc.)
• Sign-up bonuses that can drastically boost card value in the first year
• Perks that can offset annual fees like airport lounge access, travel credits, and TSA PreCheck reimbursement

Rewards credit cards

Our rewards credit card rating criteria includes rewards earning potential, sign-up bonuses, fees, and perks like cash back and travel credit.

Our highest-rated rewards credit cards have:

• A rewards rate above 2% (or 2x points or miles) with average spending
• Attainable welcome bonuses that make up for any annual fees
• Low annual fees
• Top perks that apply broadly to most people, such as purchase protections, cash back on gas and groceries, and dining rewards

High limit credit cards

Our high limit credit card rating criteria Includes credit limits, welcome offers, and annual fees.

Our highest-rated high limit credit cards have:

• Credit limits reported in cardholder terms and conditions
• Third-party cardholder credit limit reports
• Rewards, welcome offers, annual fees, and perks we believe bring the most value to users

Gas and grocery credit cards

Our gas and grocery credit card rating criteria includes rewards rate in gas- and grocery-related categories, sign-up bonuses, annual fees, and perks like cash back and dining rewards.

Our highest-rated gas and grocery credit cards have:

• A rewards rate above 3% in gas and grocery-related categories, or 2% for flat-rate cards
• Sign-up bonuses that can drastically boost card value in the first year
• Low annual fees
• Top perks that apply broadly to most people, such as purchase protections, cash back on gas and groceries, and dining rewards

Student credit cards

Our student credit card rating criteria includes rewards rate, credit score requirements, annual fees, and perks specific to students.

Our highest-rated student credit cards have:

• A rewards rate above 1.5% (or 1.5x points) with average spending
• Flexible credit score requirements
• No annual fees
• Perks that bring value to students like APR offers, purchase protections, and no foreign transaction fees

Secured credit cards

Our rating criteria includes security deposit requirements, annual fees, and perks like credit building tools.

Our highest-rated secured credit cards have:

• Low security deposits
• Low-to-no annual fees
• Ability to graduate to an unsecured card
• Perks like rewards, credit building tools, and no credit checks

How our ratings translate to our Best Of lists

We combine the factors outlined above with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations on each of our pages. Our aim is to maintain balanced best-of lists featuring top-scoring credit cards from reputable brands.

Ordering within our lists is influenced by advertiser compensation, including featured placements at the top of a given list, but our product recommendations are NEVER influenced by advertisers. Our Ratings team operates totally independently of our Partnership team.