BankCheap Official Transparency & Methodology

BankCheap is an independent data and AI-assisted comparison source for U.S. consumer and small-business financial products. We are not a bank, lender, broker, or registered financial advisor, and we don't publish "best of" rankings or personalized recommendations.

What we do: aggregate rates and product terms from public sources, present them in clear tables, and let you explore scenarios with AI-assisted tools that always show their assumptions.

Rates and product terms are gathered from publicly available sources — institution websites, rate feeds, and federal data such as FRED — and entered into our product catalog. We display APY, APR, fees, and qualifying terms as reported by the institution at the time of the last refresh.

Refresh cadence

• Rate feeds: refreshed at least weekly, more often when markets move materially.
• Product catalog (fees, terms, eligibility): reviewed periodically and updated as we become aware of changes.

Rates change frequently. Always verify the current rate, fees, and eligibility directly with the institution before applying.

We list and filter products — we don't rank a "best". Tables are organized by the headline rate or yield for the selected category, with featured items surfaced where applicable and clearly labeled.

Some links on BankCheap are affiliate links. Affiliate status does not change a product's position in our tables. We don't sell ranking slots and we don't accept payment to feature or hide a product.

Three tools on BankCheap are AI-assisted: Smart Search, Ask a Question, and the AI Calculator. Each one calls a large language model to reason over your prompt and, where applicable, our product catalog.

What the AI does

• Smart Search interprets your query, identifies the product category or industry, and surfaces matching listings from our catalog with a short reason for the match.
• Ask a Question is an educational strategy assistant that explains financial frameworks (cash-flow runway, reverse budgeting, overhead %) — it does not issue directive advice and does not see your real account data.
• AI Calculator takes a plain-English scenario, fills in standard finance assumptions (compound growth, amortization), and returns a single projection with the assumptions it used.

What the AI is not

The AI tools are not a financial advisor and have no knowledge of your actual accounts. Outputs are estimates based on stated assumptions and standard finance math. Every AI Calculator projection lists the numbers it assumed — read them before relying on the result.

Editorial decisions are separated from commercial relationships. We do not adjust listings, ordering, or AI output to favor any affiliate partner. Affiliate links are disclosed on the Data Sources page and material conflicts of interest are flagged inline.

If you spot incorrect data or want to flag a listing, contact us and we'll review it.

BankCheap content, listings, and AI tools are provided for general informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Always verify active rates, fees, and terms directly with the underlying financial institution before opening an account or signing a loan agreement.