Posted by: Alina Comoreanu

How easy is it to find the right credit card online? Comparison tools and customer reviews make it as simple as possible. But the ways in which issuers present their credit card offers can complicate things. For example, they often use different language to describe the same feature or fee. They don’t always disclose certain limitations effectively enough, either. And that ultimately makes it harder for consumers to find the best credit cards for their needs.

To see just how serious of a problem this is, WalletHub evaluated online credit-card listings from the websites of the 10 largest banks and 10 largest credit unions. We then scored each issuer based on how effectively it conveys four types of information:

1. Rewards - Does the issuer’s product page clearly define — without reading the fine print — how to earn rewards and how much they are worth (e.g., are 50,000 miles worth a trip to Chicago or Greece)?
2. Annual Fee: - Is the annual fee clearly displayed, beyond pricing disclosures or fine print?
3. New-Purchase Financing Costs - Are the introductory and regular APRs for new purchases clear to the consumer – without having to reference pricing disclosures, fine print or a separate page?
4. Balance Transfer Costs - Are all relevant balance-transfer terms (introductory and regular APRs as well as the balance transfer fee) clear without referring to pricing disclosures, fine print or a different page?

You can find the complete results of WalletHub’s analysis below. This information will give you a sense of what to look for when comparing credit card offers and, hopefully, help you get a better deal.

Some of the cards listed on this page originate from our partners, but that did not impact our conclusions. Offers are accurate as of Sep 20, 2017.

1. Key Findings
2. Tips for Getting the Right Credit Card
3. Detailed Findings
4. Methodology

Key Findings

• Capital One, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, State Employees Credit Union, Boeing Employees Credit Union, Pentagon Federal Credit Union and Navy Federal Credit Union have the clearest overall credit-card applications. This marks the seventh consecutive year that Capital One has been among the most transparent.
• Wells Fargo (80.44%) and San Diego County Credit Union (88.00%) have the least clear credit-card applications.

 

 

• This year’s “most improved” award goes to Navy Federal, whose online credit card listings improved 18.03 percentage points relative to 2015, as a result of improvements in terms of new-purchase and balance-transfer financing clarity.

 

 

• Perhaps surprisingly, banks are just about as transparent with their credit-card applications as credit unions, which tend to have a more consumer-friendly reputation.

 

• The areas in which the most ambiguity remains – for big banks and credit unions alike – are unchanged from previous years: balance transfer fees and rewards redemption value.
• Overall, application transparency is now at the highest point since we began conducting this study in 2010 – having increased 15.69% since then.

Note: Credit unions were included for the first time in 2015

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Tips For Finding The Right Credit Card

Simply being aware of the types of information you should be looking for and the areas in which credit-card issuers are likely to be less than forthcoming will go a long way toward helping you make a sound credit-card decision and avoid costly hidden surprises. But there are other steps that you can take during your credit-card hunt to improve the results even more. You can find a handful of ideas below. For more, make sure to check out our complete guide to getting the right credit card.

• Determine Your Credit Standing: Credit card companies evaluate each applicant’s credit history and disposable income when making approval decisions. Together, this information tells them whether you can handle a new credit line and dictates the types of offers you’re eligible for.

  You can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub – the only site that offers free daily updates.

• Compare Offers With A Purpose: People often get stuck trying to choose between a rewards credit card, a 0% credit card and a no annual fee credit card. If you find yourself in that situation, consider your credit standing as well as your spending and payment habits. More specifically, if you always pay your bills in full, rewards would be more appropriate than low interest rates, and vice versa. And if you don’t plan to use your card regularly or you don’t have good or excellent credit, then you should focus on finding a card with no annual fee.

  The point is that you should determine how you plan to use your credit card as well as what offers you’re eligible for prior to actually beginning your search for a specific product. This will enable you to better target your comparison efforts.

• Don’t Let Marketing Hype Sway You: A credit card offering a 0% promotional interest rate or bearing the logo of your favorite sports team might seem very appealing, but you can’t evaluate credit cards in a vacuum. You need to thoroughly compare product terms in order to find the best possible offer for your needs. If you’re in debt, a long 0% rate might be misleading, as membership fees, balance transfer fees, and regular interest rates can easily wind up eating away at your potential 0% savings.
• Don’t Apply En Masse: The purpose of comparing credit cards is to narrow your selections down to the offer or two with the best terms for your particular financial situation. This will enable you to minimize the odds that you’ll be declined and have to submit numerous applications within a short period of time, which is bad for your credit. A lot of people make the mistake of applying for a bunch of cards at once, thinking that they’ll eventually get approved for one. This type of lottery approach is the worst way to go about getting a new credit card.
• Remember That Secured Cards Are A Good Option: If your desire for a new credit card stems from a need to improve your credit standing, don’t overlook secured credit cards. In fact, you should apply for one if you don’t get approved after two unsuccessful applications for unsecured cards. Secured cards offer the closest thing you can get to guaranteed credit card approval because they require users to place a refundable security deposit that acts as their credit line and ensures that the issuer will get paid back for whatever you spend.

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Detailed Findings

  Below, you can find a breakdown of the points assigned to each card considered in this report. A maximum of 10 points was available in each category we evaluated, and final scores were then converted to a 100-point scale. Note: “N/A” indicates that a specific feature was not offered in the online application process at the time research for this study was conducted.

Banks

	Rewards	Annual Fee	Cost of Financing New Purchases	Balance Transfer Costs	Score
Maximum Points	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Quicksilver	10	10	10	10	100.0%
VentureOne	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Spark Miles	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Capital One Secured	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Capital One Platinum	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Capital One Overall Score	10	10	10	10	100.0%
BankAmericard Cash Rewards	10	10	10	10	100.0%
BankAmericard Credit Card	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Cash Rewards for Business	10	10	10	N/A	100.0%
BankAmericard Better Balance Rewards	10	10	10	10	100.0%
BankAmericard for Students	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Bank of America Overall Score	10	10	10	10	100.0%
1-2-3 Rewards	10	10	10	10	100.0%
FlexPerks Travel Rewards	10	10	10	10	100.0%
FlexPerks Business Edge Travel Rewards	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Visa Platinum	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
U.S. Bank College Visa	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
U.S. Bank Overall Score	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Chase Freedom	9.65	10	10	10	99.1%
Ink Business Plus	9.65	10	10	N/A	98.8%
Chase Sapphire Preferred	9.65	10	10	N/A	98.8%
Chase Slate	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Chase Overall Score	9.65	10	10	10	99.2%
Rewards American Express	8.2	10	10	10	95.5%
Preferred Cash Rewards	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Rate Advantage	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
USAA Overall Score	9.1	10	10	10	98.4%
Discover IT	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Discover it Chrome for Students	10	10	10	6.4	91.0%
Discover Overall Score	10	10	10	8.2	95.5%
Barclaycard Rewards	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Barclaycard Ring	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Barclaycard Arrival	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Frontier Airlines	5.8	10	10	7.2	82.5%
Barclays Overall Score	8.6	10	10	9.3	95.3%
Citi ThankYou Preferred	5.5	10	10	10	88.8%
CitiBusiness Aadvantage Platinum Select	5.5	10	10	N/A	85.0%
Citi Double Cash	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Citi Diamond Preferred	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Citi Simplicity	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Citi Overall Score	7	10	10	10	94.7%
Blue Cash	10	10	10	6.4	91.0%
Platinum Delta Sky Miles	6.175	10	10	6.4	81.4%
Amex EveryDay	6.175	10	10	6.4	81.4%
SimplyCash Plus Business	10	10	10	N/A	100.0%
Blue Cash Preferred	9.575	10	10	6.4	89.9%
American Express Overall Score	8.385	10	10	6.4	88.2%
Wells Fargo Cash Wise	10	10	6	6.8	82.0%
Wells Fargo Rewards	6.175	10	6	6.8	72.4%
Wells Fargo Platinum	N/A	10	6	6.8	76.0%
Wells Fargo Business Platinum	N/A	10	10	N/A	100.0%
Wells Fargo Overall Score	8.0875	10	7	6.8	80.4%

Credit Unions

	Rewards	Annual Fee	Cost of Financing New Purchases	Balance Transfer Costs	Score
Maximum Points	10	10	10	10	100.0%
SECU's Visa Credit Card	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
State Employees Score	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
BECU VISA CREDIT CARD	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Boeing Employees Overall Score	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
PenFed Promise Visa	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
PenFed Gold Visa	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
PenFed Defender Visa Signature	10	10	10	10	100.0%
PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Pentagon Federal Overall Score	10	10	10	10	100.0%
cashRewards	10	10	10	10	100.0%
GO REWARDS	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Platinum Credit Card	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Navy Federal Overall Score	10	10	10	10	100.0%
SchoolsFirst FCU School Employee	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Rewards Visa	7.2	10	10	10	93.0%
Share Secure	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Ispired	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
SchoolsFirst F.C.U. Overall Score	8.6	10	10	10	98.0%
Visa Platinum	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Visa Platinum Rewards	6.85	10	10	10	92.1%
Alliant Credit Union Overall Score	6.85	10	10	10	95.5%
Star One Visa Signature Rewards Card	6.175	10	10	10	90.4%
Platinum Best Rate Card	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Visa Platinum Rewards Card	6.175	10	10	10	90.4%
Star One Overall Score	6.175	10	10	10	93.0%
Power Rewards MasterCard	6.175	10	10	10	90.4%
Power MasterCard	N/A	10	10	10	100.0%
Power Travel Rewards MasterCard	6.175	10	10	10	90.4%
Security Sevice Overall Score	6.175	10	10	10	93.0%
Platinum Rewards	10	10	6	8.4	86.0%
Platinum Rewards for Students	10	10	10	10	100.0%
Golden 1 Overall Score	10	10	8	9.2	93.0%
Visa Platinum Credit Card	10	10	10	5.2	88.0%
San Diego County Overall Score	10	10	10	5.2	88.0%

Scores and Ranks

	Score & Rank 2016	Score & Rank 2015	Score & Rank 2014	Score & Rank 2013	Score & Rank 2012	Score & Rank 2011	Score & Rank 2010	2015 vs. 2014 Change
Capital One	100.00%(1)	100.00%(1)	100.00%(1)	100.00%(1)	98.60%(1)	98.60%(1)	96.40%(1)	0.00%
Bank of America	100.00%(1)	100.00%(1)	98.93%(3)	99.29%(2)	87.10%(5)	97.90%(2)	95.00%(2)	0.00%
U.S. Bank	100.00%(1)	99.11%(3)	97.22%(4)	89.29%(6)	88.60%(3)	91.40%(4)	59.30%(10)	0.90%
Chase	99.19%(4)	93.69%(7)	91.24%(7)	87.14%(8)	86.40%(6)	87.10%(5)	87.90%(3)	5.87%
USAA	98.36%(5)	98.36%(4)	84.73%(9)	89.09%(7)	72.70%(9)	85.00%(7)	77.50%(9)	0.00%
Discover	95.50%(6)	95.50%(6)	95.50%(6)	92.50%(5)	87.50%(4)	82.50%(9)	82.50%(5)	0.00%
Barclays	95.33%(7)	85.74%(10)	76.32%(10)	73.33%(10)	62.00%(10)	0.00%(N/A)	0.00%(N/A)	11.19%
Citi	94.71%(8)	96.50%(5)	99.75%(2)	94.29%(4)	96.40%(2)	82.10%(10)	82.10%(6)	-1.86%
American Express	88.17%(9)	86.18%(9)	86.63%(8)	78.33%(9)	76.70%(8)	85.00%(7)	78.30%(8)	2.31%
Wells Fargo	80.44%(10)	93.31%(8)	96.03%(5)	97.00%(3)	85.50%(7)	91.80%(3)	81.40%(7)	-13.79%
Average Score All Banks	95.17%	94.84%	92.63%	90.03%	84.15%	89.04%	82.27%	0.46%
State Employees	100.00%(1)	100.00%(1)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Boeing Employees	100.00%(1)	100.00%(1)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pentagon Federal	100.00%(1)	96.79%(3)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Navy Federal	100.00%(1)	84.73%(10)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
SchoolsFirst F.C.U.	98.00%(5)	95.71%(4)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Alliant Credit Union	95.50%(6)	93.57%(5)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Star One	93.05%(7)	91.82%(7)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Security Sevice	93.05%(7)	91.23%(8)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Golden 1	93.00%(9)	93.00%(6)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
San Diego County	88.00%(10)	88.00%(9)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Average Rank & Score All Credit Unions	96.06%	93.48%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Information accurate as of Sep. 2, 2016.

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Methodology

In order the evaluate the transparency of credit-card applications, we visited the websites of the 10 largest credit card issuers as well as the 10 largest credit unions and subjectively evaluated how clearly key credit-card information is presented. Issuers were assigned points for each card based on the visibility of account terms on the page, particularly whether a user would have to click to a new page or read fine print in order to ascertain important pricing information.

We isolated a few key components of a credit card agreement that consumers should definitely be aware of before applying for a credit card. This includes introductory and regular APRs for purchase and balance transfers as well as balance transfer and annual fees, and rewards earning and redemption rates. Ideally, an applicant should not be able to begin filling out an application without first being apprised of this information.

When possible, we evaluated up to five cards for each issuer, with the ideal combination of two rewards credit cards, two non-rewards credit cards and one business rewards card. The cards received scores on a scale of 1 to 10 — based on prominence of information, with 10 being most prominent — in the following categories:

Rewards – 10 points maximum:

• Clarity on earning process – 2 points maximum
• Clarity on earning cap – 1.5 points maximum
• Clarity on signing up – 1.5 points maximum
• Clarity on rewards currency value – 4 points maximum
• Clarity on minimum needed to redeem – 0.5 points maximum
• Clarity on type of rewards currency earned – 0.5 points maximum

Annual Fee – 10 points maximumCost of Financing New Purchases (intro APR, intro term and regular APR, where applicable) – 10 points maximumBalance Transfer Costs – 10 points maximum:

• Clarity on APR for balance transfer (intro APR, intro term and regular APR, where applicable) – 4 points maximum
• Clarity on fee for balance transfer – 4 points maximum
• Proximity of balance-transfer fee to the first reference of balance transfer APR – 2 points maximum

Prominence was scored according to the following standards:

• 100% of available points: Information on the categories of interest was prominently shown (i.e. visible when scanning the page) either on the summary or the landing page. In other words, applicants would likely come across the key information without actively looking for it. Clearly labeled tabs within the landing page are considered part of the landing page.
• 60% of available points: Information can be found by clicking on a prominent link on the landing page, and the page to which it directs clearly displays the needed information. If the information is not clearly evident to someone just scanning the page or additional clicks are needed, then 30%.
• 30% of available points: Information can be found in the footnotes of the page or in fine print (e.g. initial summary table), and there is an obvious visual cue pointing to that section. If there is no visual cue or an applicant must click on a link from the footnotes, or the information is buried within fine print (e.g. in a block of text) then 15%.
• 0% of available points: Information fails to meet the standards of the above scenarios.

Note: It is important for the balance transfer APR and balance transfer fee to be listed in close proximity to one another. Otherwise, consumers may be misled into believing they have all relevant cost information. For instance, if the balance transfer APR is listed at the top of the landing page but the balance transfer fee is listed on a “pricing and fees” tab further down the page, the consumer, seeing the APR and not knowing that a balance transfer fee exists, may not look for further pricing information.

It is also important to mention that we consider a “Terms & Conditions” page to be fine print because issuers could (and most already do) list the most important information contained therein in a much more consumer-friendly format.

Furthermore, the study took into account information found on pages leading up to the landing pages for individual credit cards. In most cases, an applicant will pass through another page (typically the issuer’s credit-card homepage, where all offers are listed) in order to arrive at the specific landing page of a given credit card. It is therefore highly likely that applicants will see this information before they apply.

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