How we rate
Every credit card in our comparison receives an overall score from 0 to 10. It comes from a transparent, weighted score across six attribute factors – calculated solely from real, verified card data – plus a statistically smoothed community signal and an interest safeguard that marks down expensive interest traps. Consumer and business cards are rated in separate leagues. We work independently: no affiliate links, no commissions, no paid placements. What a card objectively delivers decides its score – not who pays us.
The six attribute factors and their weighting
Each factor is rated on a scale of 0 to 10 and enters the overall score with the following weight. Costs deliberately dominate the most; foreign currency and cash follow, as they are the most common hidden travel costs. The community signal adds a further 12 %:
| Factor | Weight |
|---|---|
| Costs | 30 % |
| Foreign currency | 18 % |
| Cash worldwide | 14 % |
| Interest | 10 % |
| Cashback & bonus | 10 % |
| Features | 6 % |
What each factor means
- Costs (30 %)
- Annual fee and ongoing costs – permanently free cards score best here.
- Foreign currency (18 %)
- Fee for payments in a foreign currency – 0 % earns the top mark.
- Cash worldwide (14 %)
- Free cash withdrawals worldwide – important when travelling.
- Interest (10 %)
- Effective interest on installments. On top of that, an interest safeguard marks down real credit cards above 20 % APR so that expensive interest traps don't rank at the top.
- Cashback & bonus (10 %)
- Cashback and welcome bonus – real money back in everyday use.
- Features (6 %)
- Features such as travel insurance, lounge access, a German IBAN and Apple/Google Pay.
All money factors follow saturating curves: even small fees cost noticeable points, while very high ones are not penalised twice – so no overpriced card can climb via a single perk. If a value is missing (e.g. interest or cash abroad), we deliberately assume a below-average value: hiding an inconvenient condition never scores better than an honestly disclosed mediocre one.
A worked example
A permanently free card with no annual fee, a 0 % foreign currency fee and free cash withdrawals worldwide hits top marks on costs, foreign currency and cash. Because these three factors together carry the largest share of the weight, the card ends up very high overall – even without cashback or travel insurance.
An expensive premium card with a high annual fee can barely make up for that: even generous cashback, a welcome bonus and lounge access only partly offset the cost disadvantage, because cashback and bonus together carry only a moderate weight. The result: a lower overall score than the lean free card.
Community rating, interest safeguard and two leagues
Alongside the factual score we show the real user rating – but statistically smoothed: a card with a single top review never overtakes one with thousands of genuine reviews. This community signal enters the score by only 12 % and stands beside it as its own confidence level (high, medium or low).
As a commission-free portal we consistently warn against expensive interest traps: real credit cards above 20 % APR receive a score deduction. That is why fee-free cards and low-interest credit cards lead here – not the most heavily advertised interest cards.
Business credit cards follow different standards (annual fee tax-deductible, hardly any public reviews). We rank them in their own league and award an "editorial recommendation" there instead of a test winner. The scores of the two leagues are league-internal and not directly comparable.
Data sources and how current they are
All conditions in our comparison – annual fee, foreign-currency and cash fees, effective interest, insurance and bonus benefits – come directly from the providers' official price-and-service directories and card terms. These primary provider sources are decisive for us; we never take figures from advertising material.
We additionally cross-check every value against a second, independent source and review the data set on an ongoing basis. If a provider changes its conditions, we correct the affected card and set a new status date. Effective interest rates are stated in line with the German Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV).
The community signal is based solely on genuine, statistically smoothed user ratings from our portal – not on purchased or third-party test results. We deliberately do not cite external test verdicts that we cannot verify ourselves.
How we finance ourselves
This is the decisive difference from many other comparison portals: we earn nothing from our recommendations. There are no commissions, no affiliate links and no paid placements. No bank and no provider can buy its card to the top with us.
The order of our cards is based solely on this methodology – the real conditions, the smoothed community signal and the interest safeguard. That is exactly why you can rely on the ranking: it is free of financial interests and always traceable.
Last updated: 2026-07-05