Small questions. Minimal data.

Information we do not request

Do not send Cardwell your Social Security number, full date of birth, card or account numbers, banking credentials, tax identifiers, passwords, or authentication secrets. Cardwell does not process applications or make credit decisions.

Questionnaire and calculator inputs

The website processes broad preferences and calculator inputs in your browser. Cardwell does not intentionally send individual answers or spending amounts to analytics or card issuers. The questionnaire and calculator input state is not saved by Cardwell across a page reload. When you use Cardwell through ChatGPT, the requested comparison inputs are sent to Cardwell’s tool server to produce a response; OpenAI separately processes your conversation under its own terms and privacy policy. Our hosting provider may retain technical request and error logs.

Saved cards on your device

Save card stores card identifiers in your browser’s local storage under cardwell_saved_shortlist. It does not create a Cardwell account or synchronize your list across devices. This list remains until you remove the saved cards or clear this website’s browser storage. Other people using the same browser profile may see it.

Analytics and cookies

We use Google Analytics to understand page visits and aggregate interactions, including recommendation paths, question steps, result views, saved-card actions, planning-tool use, tool success or outcome, outbound clicks, referral-link clicks and optional helpful-or-not feedback. Website and ChatGPT tool events can include a tool name, broad outcome, card identifier, card type and link placement. We do not intentionally send prompts, individual questionnaire answers, calculator or spending amounts, email addresses, card numbers, bank details or application information to analytics. Server-side ChatGPT tool events use a fresh random event identifier rather than a persistent Cardwell user ID.

Google Analytics may use cookies such as _ga and _ga_* to recognize a browser across website visits. Our configuration disables Google signals and advertising-personalization signals. Hosting, security and analytics providers may process technical data such as request time, device and browser details, IP information and error logs. Google’s handling is described in How Google uses information from sites that use its services.

Contact form

If you use the Contact & Support form, Cardwell processes the topic, reply email, message, and any related page address you choose to provide. Cloudflare Turnstile checks the submission for automated abuse without receiving the contents of the message. After server-side verification, the message is delivered to Cardwell through an email-delivery provider. To review abuse and spam, the private support email also includes the source IP address as seen by Cloudflare, Cloudflare’s country-code hint, and the submission time. IP-based location can be affected by VPNs, proxies, mobile networks, or shared connections.

Contact-form contents and the source IP are not sent to Google Analytics; analytics receives only an aggregate success or failure outcome. Cardwell does not maintain a separate contact-form database, but contact messages and their security context may be retained in Cardwell’s mailbox and the delivery provider’s records while the request is handled and as reasonably needed for security, records, or legal obligations.

Do not include an SSN, card or account number, bank login, password, credit report, or application documents.

Your browser controls

You can block or delete cookies and clear site storage in your browser. Clearing site storage also removes your saved-card list. Google offers a Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on for supported browsers. Cardwell does not currently implement a separate response to Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control browser signals; enabling one is not a guarantee that our analytics will stop. Contact us if you need help making a privacy request.

Referral links and third parties

Some links lead to an issuer or referral partner that may attribute a referral using its own cookies or other technology. Their privacy policies apply after you leave Cardwell. Cardwell does not send questionnaire answers to issuers to produce a recommendation and does not sell questionnaire answers. Service providers may process limited technical data to operate, secure and measure the service, or disclose it where legally required.

Retention

Calculator and questionnaire state is temporary; saved cards remain in your browser as described above. Analytics records and hosting logs follow the respective provider’s configured retention periods. We do not promise a single deletion deadline for all providers. Emails you choose to send may be retained while handling your request and as reasonably needed for records, security or legal obligations. Do not email sensitive financial or identity information.

Privacy requests and California residents

Depending on where you live and which laws apply, you may have rights to access, correct or delete personal information, or limit certain uses. Choose “Privacy request” in the Contact & Support form and describe the request. We will assess the request and any applicable rights; we may need proportionate verification, but please do not send an SSN, card number or bank password. Some browser analytics cannot be reliably connected to your email address. Mentioning these rights does not mean that every statutory requirement or right applies to Cardwell.

Children, geography and updates

Cardwell is intended for adults researching U.S. credit cards and is not directed to children. We may update this policy when the service changes. The effective date below identifies this policy version. For questions, use Contact & Support.