This year’s top winners in each financial category — because you deserve the best.
At NerdWallet, we believe you deserve the best-of-the-best in personal finance. Our award-winning editorial team is passionate about providing clarity and helping consumers make all the right money moves.
After countless hours of researching and comparing rates, rewards and fees — across thousands of data points — we’re proud to bring you the winners of our 4th annual Best-Of Awards. From credit cards to mortgage lenders to personal loans and more, they’ve earned our highest ratings.
They study for fun. They make spreadsheets on vacation. They’re powerhouse experts when it comes to all things finance — and they’re here to help you get the best.
Nerdy mission: Helping people crush debt. Enjoys: Seeing the world on travel points. Fun fact: Can rattle off 25 constellations in 60 seconds. “My tip? Add up your debts so you know how much you're dealing with. It sounds obvious but most people don’t do it!”
Nerdy mission: Helping people make sense of investing. Enjoys: Matching people with the right mutual fund. Fun fact: Has an instagram for her dog @1eyedwilson. “Best investing tip? Keep things simple with a diversified index mutual fund.”
NerdWallet’s awards are given annually to the best of the best. Our other lists of top products throughout the year may be longer than the lists of award winners, offer additional consumer choices and get updated as products change, products are discontinued and new products emerge.
NerdWallet's award winners are chosen through a rigorous evaluation process involving roughly three dozen writers and editors. For each financial product, we assess the features that we believe are most important to consumers. NerdWallet's ratings formulas for credit cards, for example, consider the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features. For mortgages, we considered loan types and loan products offered, online capabilities, online mortgage rate information, customer service and complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Writers and editors use comprehensive scoring formulas that assess each financial product’s key features, weighting them according to their importance to consumers.
Nope. Editorial team members are solely responsible for creating all product reviews and ratings, and these assessments reflect their opinions alone. Only products that meet the editorial team’s standards appear in our Best-Of lists, meaning no company can “buy” an award.
Our 2018 Best-Of Award winners are still live and we encourage companies to continue to celebrate their wins from this year and past years. If you need access to past badges, please email us at awards@nerdwallet.com.
