Evaluation Criteria: Credit Cards
At Review Authority, we evaluate and rank products and services in a variety of categories. Our evaluations of business services are aimed to assist small businesses and consumers in finding the right services which assist them with their operations.
Our evaluations cover numerous aspects of services which aim to assist business owners improve upon their business practices. Our evaluators are enthusiasts who are passionate about the products and services which they evaluate for Review Authority.
For credit card services, our evaluation involves a multiple step process which begins by researching and understanding the various aspects of each credit card company ranging from their associated fees and rules to the benefits and rewards offered by each program. We also connect with businesses which use the credit cards which we evaluate. Not all products and services will make the cut, but the ones that do can be found on our monthly rankings.
The five main criteria which we use to evaluate all credit card services are as follows:
The various membership benefits of each card issuer are evaluated based on the type of program which is offered, the benefits of using the credit card. Different rewards programs are aimed at different types of people and our evaluators spend time comparing the rewards programs.
The various rates of interest on the balance are also evaluated along with historical changes in the rate of interest and interest hikes. Having a credit card provided by a company with a strong history of manageable changes in interest over time is important.
Various associated fees are also evaluated. Inactivity fees, balance transfer fees, and other various types of transaction fees are compared amongst the different credit cards. Our evaluators also spend time comparing specific types of transfers including international purchase fees.
Customer service processes are also an aspect of evaluation to ensure that the support principles are able to address primary concerns and common issues quickly and efficiently. Having a history of correspondence tracked and a support team which is proactive ensures that the issues addressed with be resolve in a reasonable amount of time.
The final aspect of evaluation which our evaluators use to benchmark various credit card offerings focuses on the security of credit card services. Having a credit card which provides a stronger level of security and privacy is important. Various fraud checking services and services which require verification of the identity of the individual ensure that identity theft protection is enabled for their customers.
Once our certified evaluators and research team have done their due diligence, we combine this information and create our monthly rankings. These rankings are our opinions of which credit card services provide the best overall experience.
