Have you ever been in a conversation with someone where you know they are lying? This person thinks you are too stupid to know the truth so they feel like they can say just about anything and you’ll believe it.
Doesn’t that piss you off?
That’s how I feel when I log onto some of the most popular personal finance web applications. If you’ve used any account aggregation services like Mint you’ve probably seen them offer you a credit card that can earn you $500 a year. Maybe $600. Maybe $1,000. Do they think we are stupid?
Most of us know it’s baloney. Mint certainly does. Take a look at the offers they are trying to give me right now:
They say I can make $830 with the Capital One Venture Rewards Card. Well if that were true then sign me up! Except Mint KNOWS that I don’t carry a balance on any of my cards so I can’t be saving money on APR. Mint also KNOWS that all my credit cards are rewards cards and I’m already getting rewards with every dollar I spend.
But they don’t care. The bigger that number is the more likely people are to apply for the card, which is how they make their money. They don’t actually care if you save $830 a year; they just care that you click on that link.
I refuse to have my intelligence insulted. I refuse to be intentionally misled. I’m smarter than that.
I wanted a service that would actually help me get more rewards with the cards I already have. I wanted a service that would be honest with me about how much extra I could earn with a new card. That service didn’t exist.
So I built it.
I created Reward Boost to honestly help people maximize their credit card rewards. All you need to do is enter the names of credit cards you own (no sensitive info required) and how much money you spend each month on different categories. Reward Boost tells you which cards give the most rewards for each category.
It also tells you how to earn more money with a new credit card, but Reward Boost won’t mislead you like Mint.com or other services. We tell you exactly how much you are earning with your current cards and how much more you will earn by category with the new card. If that sounds confusing, just check out this picture:
I’m looking at a $171 annual increase at Reward Boost. At a glance it’s certainly not as exciting as the $830 I’m being promised at Mint.com, but the $171 is real and the $830 is hogwash.
If you are looking to increase your credit card rewards and you don’t want to be insulted with dishonest offers, I would love for you to check out Reward Boost. It’s 100% free and you don’t even have to create an account (although I do recommend it!).
If you still aren’t sure, check out our video. In about 80 seconds you’ll see how easy it is to boost your rewards!
This was a guest post by Kevin McKee, and co-founder of Reward Boost and founder of personal finance blog Thousandaire