Affiliate Disclosure

This page documents how BestCardsForMe receives compensation, how that compensation interacts with our editorial decisions, and what readers should know before clicking outbound links to issuer sites. We treat affiliate disclosure as a trust obligation, not a compliance afterthought. The framework below is written to be plain-English and honest, not to obscure how the business model works.

BestCardsForMe by MoneyFactor may receive compensation from credit card issuers and affiliate networks when readers apply for cards through our links and are subsequently approved. This compensation may take several forms:

• A flat fee per approved application
• A percentage of activity associated with the new account
• A click-through bounty for outbound traffic

The specific compensation amount varies by card, by issuer, and by network. We do not disclose per-card compensation amounts because (a) the amounts are governed by confidentiality terms in our network agreements, and (b) the specific dollar figure is less informative for readers than understanding the editorial firewall described below.

When we are not yet approved with the affiliate network associated with a particular card, we link directly to the issuer's public marketing page without compensation. Outbound links labeled `/go/[card-slug]` route readers to the appropriate destination, which may or may not include a tracking parameter depending on our current network status with that issuer.

Our editorial recommendations are not for sale. Specifically, compensation does not influence:

• Which cards we cover. We choose cards to review based on relevance to our reader profile (affluent U.S. households evaluating premium and mid-tier credit cards), not based on which cards generate the highest commissions.
• How we rank cards. Rankings reflect the realistic captured-value math described in our Methodology, applied to the household profile in question.
• What we say about a card's strengths or weaknesses. When we identify a card's structural problems — fee hikes that no longer pencil, partner exclusions, devalued credits — we name them whether or not the card is one we earn affiliate compensation on.
• Whether we recommend downgrading or canceling a card. When the right answer for a household is to downgrade a card we'd otherwise earn affiliate revenue from, we say so. Downgrade recommendations are some of the most-published guidance on the site, despite costing us potential applications.

When two cards are roughly equivalent for a profile and one carries stronger affiliate compensation, we say so transparently in the relevant article.

We are an independent publication operating on affiliate revenue, and we want readers to understand what that economic relationship does and does not affect.

Compensation may influence:

• Which cards we prioritize for full-length deep-dive coverage. We have finite editorial capacity. We allocate it toward cards that are both (a) relevant to our readers and (b) part of programs we have or expect to have affiliate relationships with. We don't write detailed reviews of cards we have no commercial path to recommend.
• Which specific calls to action we surface. When we recommend applying for a card, we route the outbound click through our affiliate link if one exists, and through a direct issuer link if one doesn't. The recommendation precedes the link choice, not the other way around.

These are the limits of how compensation interacts with our editorial choices. They are normal for an independent affiliate-supported publication. We surface them so readers can decide what weight to give them.

BestCardsForMe may participate in affiliate programs operated by major credit card affiliate networks and direct issuer programs. The specific networks active at any given time may shift as we add or close partnerships. We deliberately do not list specific network names on this page because the roster changes and a static list would mislead readers about our current relationships.

If you are an affiliate network, issuer affiliate manager, or partnership team member evaluating BCFM as a publisher partner, see the Contact page for inquiry details.

The site's editorial decisions are made independently of affiliate negotiations. The same person who writes the reviews (the founder and editor of BestCardsForMe) is the same person who corresponds with affiliate networks and issuer partnership teams. We don't pretend the firewall is between two separate departments. It's a self-imposed editorial discipline, codified in our Methodology and Editorial Standards.

What that discipline means in practice:

• Methodology decisions (point valuations, friction discounts, profile fit logic) are made before any affiliate consideration applies and are documented publicly.
• Recommendations are produced by applying the methodology to product data, not by selecting cards we earn from and reasoning backward.
• When a card we earn from has a structural problem we'd otherwise call out — we call it out.
• When a network or issuer asks us to remove or soften a critical review, we decline.

If we ever find ourselves in a position where commercial pressure has materially affected an editorial decision, we will retract or revise the affected content and publish a correction note. We expect this to be rare; we surface the policy because it should exist whether or not the situation arises.

When you click an affiliate link on our site, no additional cost accrues to you. Issuer terms — annual fees, APRs, credits, earning rates — are identical whether you click through us, click through another publisher, or apply directly on the issuer's site. The compensation flows from issuer to network to publisher; the reader pays the issuer's published terms either way.

What you should always do, regardless of where you click from:

• Verify current terms on the issuer's site before applying. Card details described in our reviews reflect publicly available information at publication, but issuers can change terms without notice.
• Read the cardholder agreement before accepting a card. The marketing page is not the legal terms.
• Confirm eligibility (income requirements, credit profile, residency) before submitting an application.

BestCardsForMe complies with U.S. Federal Trade Commission guidelines for affiliate disclosures, including the FTC's Endorsement Guides and the CARD Act where applicable to credit card content. Our compensation relationships are disclosed at the top of every page that contains affiliate links via a site-wide compensation banner, and again in detail on this page.

If you believe a specific page on the site has inadequate disclosure, please email tim@moneyfactor.io and we will review and correct.

We update this page when our compensation framework changes materially. The most recent revision date is recorded at the bottom of the page. For substantive changes, we publish a brief explanatory note on the BCFM newsletter or homepage so readers are aware.

BestCardsForMe is an independent publication, not a financial advisor. Information on this site is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Card terms, fees, credits, and earning rates can change without notice — always verify current information directly with the issuer before applying. Approval, credit limits, and APRs depend on the issuer's underwriting and your specific credit profile.

See also our [About](/about), [Methodology](/methodology), [Editorial Standards](/editorial-standards), and [Contact](/contact) pages.

Last updated: April 2026.