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How we score

The math is the method.

Every CMS score out of 10 is built from five weighted pillars. No bank pays for placement, the weighting is public, and the model runs before any commercial data — so you can check our work.

Pillar weighting

The five pillars

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From data to score

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Independence

Why a commission never moves a score

The scoring model is computed from card terms alone, before any affiliate relationship is attached. Commission rates are not a variable in the formula, our top picks routinely include cards we earn nothing from, and the full weighting above is published so anyone can reproduce the result. If we ever change a weight, we change it for every card at once — never for one deal.

See it applied
Watch the method score real cards.
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