Methodology
How Firsthand Money Ranks and Reviews Products
Firsthand Money's methodology in brief
Firsthand Money scores every savings account, app, and money tool on five published, fixed-weight criteria: Fees (25%), Value & Returns (25%), Transparency (20%), Security & Trust (15%), and Customer Support & Experience (15%). Facts about fees, minimums, and APYs are drawn only from each provider's official disclosures — bank rate and fee schedules, official pricing pages — and from regulators (CFPB, FDIC, NCUA, SEC, FINRA, IRS, and the Federal Reserve), never from aggregators. Because rates and fees change, every number in a review is cited to a primary source with an "as of" date; where a figure cannot be verified, we describe it qualitatively rather than guess. Firsthand Money is reader-supported and may earn advertiser compensation, but that compensation never changes a score or a ranking — placement follows this published methodology. Every review lists at least one genuine con, and content is editorially fact-checked against its cited sources before publication. This is informational content, not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice.
Personal-finance content is only as trustworthy as its sources, so we publish ours. The exact criteria and weights behind every Firsthand Money ranking are on this page, and they apply to every provider in a category — whether or not we have any financial relationship with it. Rates and fees change, so every number in our reviews is cited to a primary source with an 'as of' date, and we describe a figure qualitatively rather than guess when we cannot verify it.
The five scoring criteria
| Criterion | Weight | What we evaluate |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | 25% | Monthly maintenance fees, minimums, and the avoidable and unavoidable charges disclosed in the provider's official fee schedule — overdraft, transfer, early-withdrawal, origination, and subscription costs. Lower and clearer wins; buried or hard-to-avoid fees lower the score. |
| Value & Returns | 25% | For deposit accounts, the APY relative to peers (always cited as-of a date, since rates are variable); for tools and apps, the value delivered for the price. We compare against alternatives that deliver the same benefit, and we never treat a teaser rate as a guarantee. |
| Transparency | 20% | How clearly the provider discloses rates, fees, and terms up front. Published fee schedules, plain-language APY and APR terms, no hidden minimums, and honest marketing that does not bury the conditions score highest. |
| Security & Trust | 15% | FDIC or NCUA insurance for deposit products (confirmed at the institution level), plus data-security posture for apps — encryption, read-only account aggregation, multi-factor authentication, and a clear stance on not selling customer data, sourced from official documentation. |
| Customer Support & Experience | 15% | Availability and quality of customer support, account-servicing friction, complaint history where public (e.g. CFPB complaint database), and the real-world experience of opening, using, and closing the account. |
How we read the sources
Fees, minimums, and rates are taken from the primary source: the provider's official fee schedule, rate page, or pricing page, or a regulator's publication. Savings APYs are variable and banks publish them dynamically, so we cite each rate to the bank's official page with an "as of" date rather than repeat a number that may already be stale — and we link that page so you can confirm the current figure before you open an account.
Security & Trust starts with insurance: for deposit products we confirm FDIC (or, for credit unions, NCUA) coverage at the institution level using FDIC BankFind, and note the standard $250,000-per-depositor, per-ownership-category limit. For apps we read the company's official security documentation — encryption, read-only account aggregation, multi-factor authentication, and whether the company sells customer data. Where a claim cannot be verified from a primary source, we describe it qualitatively or omit it; we never invent a number.
Independence: how compensation never touches the scores
- We review products we don't earn from. Category rankings include providers that pay us nothing. If the best product in a category has no affiliate or advertiser relationship, it still ranks where the rubric puts it.
- Rankings are never sold. No company can pay for a position, a score, or a favorable sentence. There are no "sponsored" slots inside our rankings.
- Advertiser compensation never changes scores. Scoring is completed against the rubric before monetization is considered. Whether a link earns compensation has no input into any criterion. Read our full advertiser disclosure.
- Every review lists at least one genuine con. If we recommend a product, we also tell you where it falls short — a variable rate that can drop, a subscription cost, a learning curve, or a missing feature.
- Every review is editorially fact-checked. Our editorial team checks each figure against its cited primary source before a page is published. Firsthand does not employ a licensed financial advisor; this is editorial fact-checking, not professional advice. See our editorial policy.
- Pages carry as-of dates. Rates and fees change. Each ranking and review shows when it was last updated and dates every rate or fee, and we re-check pages when pricing or terms change.
What a score means
Each criterion is scored 0–10 against the rubric above, multiplied by its weight, and summed into a final score out of 10. Providers in the same category are scored against the same rubric, so scores are directly comparable within a ranking. A high score is not a recommendation to buy — it means the product performed well on fees, value, transparency, security, and support relative to its competitors. This content is informational only and is not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice; consider consulting a qualified financial professional about your situation.