How SwitchWize ranks financial products
Full transparency on how we select, evaluate, and rank every financial product on this site. No black-box algorithms. No paid placements in organic rankings. Every decision is documented below.
Products must pass a baseline eligibility screen before they can be ranked.
Weights vary by category: savings, mortgages, cards, brokerage, alternatives, insurance, and more.
Data is refreshed daily, with manual review triggered for meaningful changes.
Referral fees support the service, but do not move products up the list.
Our editorial independence promise
SwitchWize earns referral fees when you click through to a partner and open an account. This is how we keep the service free for everyone. However, this compensation never determines ranking order.
- Products can appear on SwitchWize with no referral agreement.
- A product with a referral agreement can rank below a competitor if the data supports it.
- We have turned down higher-paying partnerships because the product did not meet our standards.
- Organic rankings are never sold or influenced by commercial relationships.
- Sponsored placements are clearly labeled with a “Sponsored” badge and appear separately.
- Editorial decisions are made independently of our business development team.
- We disclose all material commercial relationships in our advertising disclosure.
How we select products for listing
Every product on SwitchWize must pass a baseline eligibility screen before we evaluate it for ranking. Products that fail this screen are not listed regardless of commercial relationship.
- ✓FDIC or NCUA insured
- ✓Publicly available to U.S. residents
- ✓No ongoing legal action by regulators
- ✓Rates verifiable at official provider page
- ✓Licensed in relevant U.S. states
- ✓CFPB complaint ratio within acceptable range
- ✓APR disclosed upfront
- ✓No predatory fee structures
- ✓SEC-registered broker-dealer or RIA
- ✓SIPC member (for brokerage accounts)
- ✓Audited financials available
- ✓No material regulatory violations in 24 months
- ✓SEC-registered fund or proper exemption
- ✓Minimum 3-year audited track record
- ✓Fee structure fully disclosed
- ✓Redemption terms clearly stated
Products with predatory terms (APR above 36% for personal loans without clear disclosure), excessive hidden fees, regulatory violations in the past 24 months, or products that have misled consumers based on CFPB complaint data.
Ranking criteria by category
Different product categories require different weighting models. A mortgage is not ranked like a savings account. Below are the exact weights we apply to each category.
High-Yield Savings & Money MarketExact weights and rationale
Certificates of DepositExact weights and rationale
Mortgage & Home LoansExact weights and rationale
Personal & Auto LoansExact weights and rationale
Credit CardsExact weights and rationale
Brokerage & IRAExact weights and rationale
Private Credit & AlternativesExact weights and rationale
Tokenized Treasuries & Digital AssetsExact weights and rationale
Life & InsuranceExact weights and rationale
How we keep data current
Rates and product details are not static. This page keeps the methodology, but our product data is monitored and refreshed on a recurring cadence.
Automated checks every morning across all listed products
“Updated [date]” shown on every product card, always
Rates pulled directly from bank and lender sites — no third-party aggregators
Any rate move of 10+ basis points triggers an immediate manual review
Trend data shown on every product so you see direction, not just snapshots
All products re-evaluated for continued eligibility every quarter
The Rate Gap methodology
SwitchWize's Rate Gap is our original metric — the annual dollar amount a user leaves on the table by staying with their current product instead of switching to the best available alternative. Here is exactly how we calculate it.
The highest rate currently available with a minimum balance of $10,000 or less and no lock-up period longer than the user's stated timeline. We use this threshold because a 5.5% rate requiring a $100,000 minimum is not realistically available to most users.
We deliberately do not apply compounding to the 5-year projection. Compounding would inflate the number — it would look more dramatic but would be less honest. Rates change, users move money, life happens. We show the simple annual gap × 5 as a conservative floor, not a ceiling.
Money Map uses your stated balance, current rate, and financial goal to calculate your specific Rate Gap. The recommendations are then filtered to products that match your goal and timeline — we do not recommend a 3-year CD to someone who said they need liquidity within 12 months.
Switching friction labels
Every product on SwitchWize carries a friction label — Low, Medium, or High — indicating the real-world effort required to open an account. This is a SwitchWize-original data point not found on Bankrate or NerdWallet. A 0.1% higher APY is not worth it if the account takes 3 weeks to open.
Online application in under 15 minutes. No paperwork, no branch visit, no waiting period. ACH linking takes 1–2 business days.
Requires membership eligibility check, additional documentation, or soft credit pull. Expect 3–7 business days.
Involves hard credit check, in-person requirements, extensive documentation, or multi-week underwriting. Plan accordingly.
How SwitchWize makes money
We believe you deserve to know exactly how we are compensated. Plain language, no footnotes.
Questions about our methodology?
We welcome feedback and are committed to correcting errors promptly.
Reach out with questions, methodology concerns, or factual corrections. The goal is full transparency and fast correction when something needs improvement.
- Starts with the big editorial promise before the detailed methodology.
- Breaks dense ranking criteria into expandable cards instead of one long wall of text.
- Uses the same SwitchWize card system, spacing, and accent language as newer pages.