We fight credit card debt by providing consumers with ratings of credit cards. We are devoted to being the leading source of objective credit card rating information. We currently offer consumer information regarding approximately 1000 unique credit card offerings, including two searchable databases containing approximately 1,100 credit card descriptions. We also offer over approximately 16,000 consumer reviews (written by consumers throughout the country). We do not know of any other organization that offers more consumer reviews of credit cards. Disclosing such information often helps consumers find more attractive credit cards and, in turn, helps them lower their credit card debt. Another added benefit is that such disclosures encourage stronger competition among credit card issuers. For more information about how we rate cards please click here.

Since our founding, we have expanded our role and online offerings. For example, we now provide ratings of credit cards that are consumer friendly in terms of rebates and rewards. Such cards are geared toward consumers that do not typically carry balances (i.e. consumers that pay off their cards each month). We have also started to recognize credit card issuers that have highly rated cards by creating a "Top Rated Card" award graphic. If you are a card issuer and have a "Top Rated Card" (a consumer or staff rating of at least 4 stars), please click here for information on using our award graphic.

Another example of our expanded role is our initiation of a community outreach program. We are an active participant in the Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy. Jump$tart is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the personal financial literacy of young adults (K-12). We are proud that Curtis Arnold, our public relations director, is an interim co-chair of the Arkansas Jump$tart Coalition. Click here for more information about our community outreach program.

We are proud of our accomplishments and owe all of our success to consumers like you. Our web site has quickly become one of the most popular consumer sources of credit card information. In fact, we are now the most comprehensive free source for comparing card offers. Our site has been featured by The Wall Street Journal, The Early Show on CBS, USA Today, PBS, Money Magazine, etc.

If you would like to learn more about our organization, please visit any of the following web pages that interest you. To learn why our site is more consumer friendly than other credit card related sites that are strictly advertising based, please visit our Why We're Better page. To find out about the many awards we have won, please visit our Awards/Kudos page. You may also enjoy reading Testimonials about our site. There are also other related pages listed at the bottom of this page that may interest you.

We would like to publicly thank the many individuals who have helped us through the years in various capacities. We could not have done it without you!

Funding/Business Structure:

We have always sought creative methods to finance our operations. Initially, we relied on donations for financial support and sought to be recognized as a nonprofit organization. At that point our web domain name was CardRatings.org. However, pursuing nonprofit status posed many financial challenges. As a result, we began to explore alternative forms of financing in 2000. It became apparent that the only viable alternatives were advertising and fee based services. After several months of grappling and research, we decided to solely rely on advertisers or sponsors for financial support. We incorporated as a for-profit institution on January 1, 2001 (subchapter C corporation).

Several factors influenced the management team’s decision to incorporate as a for-profit institution.

• Advertising will provide significantly more financial support than other forms of financing.
• Reliable financial support will allow the organization to aggressively expand the scope of its services and public awareness of its services.
• We have a strong desire to continue offering free services to consumers. Pursuing a fee-based service (a route that some comparable organizations have taken) conflicts with the true spirit of the organization.
• If the organization is selective in choosing advertisers, then advertisers can provide attractive card offers to consumers that visit the site.
• Achieving nonprofit status will curtail lobbying efforts if and when the organization pursues such efforts on behalf of consumers.