Transparent methodology
How We Rank Cards
No black boxes. Every ranking is math you can verify.
01
The Formula
For every card, we calculate your monthly rewards using one formula applied to each spending category:
Core equation
Monthly Rewards = Σ(category spend × category rate × point value)
Σ = sum across all spending categories.
We run this across every category you enter — groceries, dining, gas, travel, streaming, rent, and general spend — then sum the results. Worked example for a hypothetical cash-back card:
| Category | Spend | Rate | Pt Value | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries | $400 | 4x | $0.01 | $16.00 |
| Dining | $250 | 3x | $0.01 | $7.50 |
| Gas | $100 | 3x | $0.01 | $3.00 |
| Everything else | $500 | 1x | $0.01 | $5.00 |
| Monthly rewards earned (after fees) | $31.50 | |||
$400 groceries × 4x × $0.01 = $16/mo. We repeat this for every category, then subtract fees to get the net value.
02
What We Include
Rankings reflect total net value, not headline earn rates. Here's what factors in:
01
Annual fees are subtracted
Every card's annual fee is divided by 12 and subtracted from monthly rewards. A card that earns $50/mo but costs $550/yr nets $4.17 less per month than it appears.
02
Effective fees after auto-credits
Some cards offset their annual fee with statement credits that apply automatically (e.g., dining credits, streaming credits). We use the effective fee — the real out-of-pocket cost — not the sticker price.
03
Sign-up bonuses amortized over 2 years
A $750 sign-up bonus adds $31.25/mo to your first-year and second-year value. We amortize over 24 months because most people hold cards at least that long. The bonus is shown separately so you can judge ongoing value independently. Example only — verify current offer on issuer's site.
04
Spending caps respected
If a card offers 5% on groceries but only on the first $6,000/year ($500/mo), we apply the bonus rate up to the cap and the base rate on anything above it. No inflated projections.
03
What the algorithm ignores
We exclude a few things from the base ranking to keep results honest and reproducible:
i.
Portal-only rates excluded
Some cards advertise higher rates when you shop through their issuer's online portal (e.g., "5x at Amazon through Chase"). We exclude these because they require extra steps, limited inventory, and are not guaranteed to persist.
ii.
Online-only rates excluded
Rates that only apply to online purchases in a category (but not in-store) are excluded from base rankings. Most people split spending between online and in-store, so counting the online-only rate for the full category would overstate earnings.
iii.
Benefits shown separately, not ranked
Perks like lounge access, trip insurance, purchase protection, and TSA PreCheck credits are real value — but they are subjective. We surface them in the card detail view so you can factor them in yourself.
04
Point Valuations
Not all points are worth the same. We assign a typical per-point value to each currency based on common redemption options — the average outcome for most cardholders. The conservative toggle on the calculator drops to the guaranteed cash-redemption floor (e.g. Amex MR $0.006, Cap One miles $0.005). The optimized toggle assumes skilled transfer-partner use (~1.5× typical).
| Currency | Value / Point | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cash Back (all issuers) | $0.01 | 1 cent = 1 cent. No ambiguity. |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | $0.02 | Transfer to Hyatt, United, Southwest. Portal is $0.0125. |
| Amex Membership Rewards | $0.02 | Transfer to ANA, Delta, Hilton. Cash-out is only $0.006. |
| Capital One Miles | $0.015 | Transfer to Turkish, Avianca, Wyndham. Portal is $0.01. |
| Citi ThankYou Points | $0.015 | Transfer to Turkish, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic. |
| Bilt Points | $0.018 | Transfer to Hyatt (1:1), AA, Turkish. Best rent-earning currency. |
| Hyatt Points | $0.017 | Highest hotel point value. Category 1–4 properties are sweet spots. |
| Hilton Honors | $0.005 | Low per-point but high earn rates (7x–14x) offset it. |
| Marriott Bonvoy | $0.007 | Hotel redemptions vary widely. 5th-night-free adds ~20% value. |
| Delta SkyMiles | $0.012 | Domestic economy ~1.2¢. International business can hit 2¢+. |
| United Miles | $0.013 | Partner awards (ANA, Lufthansa) offer best value. |
| AA Miles | $0.014 | Web specials and partner awards are the sweet spots. |
| Southwest Points | $0.014 | Fixed value ~1.4¢. No devaluation risk. |
| Alaska Miles | $0.018 | Partner awards on Cathay, JAL, Emirates are exceptional. |
Typical valuations reflect what most people will actually get — not the cash-redemption floor, and not what an expert maximizer might squeeze out. If a card ranks well here, optimized redemption only makes it better.
05
How cards are scored on the Browse page
The Browse Cards page shows a composite value score out of 100. It's spending-independent — a measure of each card's overall versatility. Five weighted components:
| Component | Weight | How it's calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Category breadth | 25 pts | Number of bonus categories above the base rate, normalized. |
| Best effective rate | 25 pts | Highest category rate multiplied by point value, normalized to a 10% ceiling. |
| Sign-up bonus | 20 pts | Dollar value of the welcome offer, normalized to a $1,500 ceiling. |
| Net benefits | 15 pts | Total annual benefit value minus the annual fee (with a +$200 offset to keep no-fee cards positive). |
| Base rate | 15 pts | The card’s everywhere-else earn rate, normalized to a 3% effective cashback ceiling. |
06
Our commitments
Trust requires constraints. Here are the lines we will not cross:
01
How we make money without biasing rankings
We earn affiliate commissions when you apply for a card through our links. But here's the key: the ranking runs first, the monetization happens after. The algorithm only sees your spending data and card terms — it has no field for "commission rate." We literally cannot bias the results because the code doesn't have access to commission data.
02
Cards that lose us money still rank #1 if they're best for you
PenFed Power Cash Rewards and Costco Anywhere Visa are two of the strongest cards in our database — and we earn zero commission from either. They still rank where the math puts them. We would rather give you the right answer and earn nothing than steer you wrong.
03
0 sponsored placements
No card issuer can pay to appear higher in results, get featured placement, or suppress a competitor. Every position in your ranking is earned by the numbers alone.
04
Public accountability
If you ever see a discrepancy between our rankings and what another site shows, email hello@rollsrewards.com and we'll publish the reasoning. Our point valuations are listed above — every number is auditable.
07
Why I Built This
Most credit-card sites earn affiliate commissions, which can make it hard to know whether a recommendation is truly best for your spending or just the most profitable for the publisher. I wanted one honest answer to a simple question: given how I spend, which card puts the most money back in my pocket?
So I built RollsRewards to separate ranking math from monetization. You enter real spending, the algorithm scores every card against your numbers, and the ranking doesn't change based on who pays us. Some of the best cards in our database earn us nothing — they still rank #1 when the math says so.
This is still early. Statement upload, multi-card wallet optimization, and tools for people new to credit are all in the works. Ideas or feedback? I want to hear them.
Tim, Founder
Built this because every 'best card' list I could find was an ad. Here's the math I wish existed.
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