{
  "note": "Each entry is a question readers ask, the inputs to collect before it can be answered, and the files that answer it. ask_the_reader_first selects the file: segment and kind are the two parts of each top/ and best/ path, and eligibility says whether to read the default ranking or the one with student cards and occupation-limited lenders in. Read commentary before quoting a card.",
  "questions": [
    {
      "question": "What is the best credit card?",
      "also_asked_as": [
        "cheapest credit card",
        "lowest interest credit card",
        "best low rate credit card",
        "best credit card with no annual fee",
        "best business credit card"
      ],
      "has_no_single_answer": true,
      "ask_the_reader_first": [
        {
          "input": "segment: personal, business (the {segment} in the file path)",
          "why": "Business and corporate cards are priced and fee'd differently and need an ABN; a sole trader may use either.",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "low_rate: personal 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%; business 13 banks, from 9.99% (Bank of Melbourne, Business Vantage) up to 14.99%, median 13.45%."
        },
        {
          "input": "kind: low_rate, no_annual_fee, balance_transfer, rewards (the {kind} in the file path)",
          "why": "low_rate for a reader who carries a balance; no_annual_fee for one who pays in full and wants the cheapest card to hold; balance_transfer for one moving a debt from another card; rewards for one who pays in full and wants points, ranked by fee because points are not valued in the feeds.",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "personal: low_rate 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%; no_annual_fee 10 banks, from 10.24% (Coastline Bank, Visa Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 14.24%; balance_transfer 22 banks, the longest 26 months at 0.00% (NAB, Low Rate Card, 3% fee), median 20 months; rewards 24 banks, the cheapest to hold Coles Credit Cards (No Annual Fee Mastercard) at $0 a year; annual fees from $0 to $400, median $149, 1 unstated."
        },
        {
          "input": "eligibility: whether the reader is a student, already holds another of an issuer's cards (a companion card), or can join a lender open only to certain occupations (yes means read entries_all in best/ or top_all in top/)",
          "why": "Student cards, companion cards and lenders open only to certain occupations carry the restrictions student, companion_card and occupation_membership and are left out of the default ranking. Most cards also need a minimum income (min_income) and age (min_age).",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "The default view today has 52 banks; entries_all adds the rest."
        }
      ],
      "then_read": {
        "top_ten": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/top/{segment}/{kind}.json",
        "full_ranking": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/best/{segment}/{kind}.json",
        "default_slice": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/top/personal/low_rate.json",
        "one_bank": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/brands/{brand_slug}.json"
      },
      "say_as_well": [
        "Quote the purchase rate with the annual fee (yearly; say when it is charged monthly) and the interest-free days.",
        "Say when the fee is not in the feed (annual_fee_stated false) and when the rate is personalised (purchase_rate_range_pct).",
        "Say when the record is record_stale and needs checking on the bank's page.",
        "Not every issuer is on the Consumer Data Right register: American Express, Zip and Wizit are read from their own pages (source_kind document); Latitude and other non-bank issuers are not here."
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "What is the best balance transfer credit card?",
      "also_asked_as": [
        "0% balance transfer",
        "longest balance transfer offer",
        "move my credit card debt"
      ],
      "has_no_single_answer": true,
      "ask_the_reader_first": [
        {
          "input": "segment: personal, business (the {segment} in the file path)",
          "why": "Business and corporate cards are priced and fee'd differently and need an ABN; a sole trader may use either.",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "low_rate: personal 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%; business 13 banks, from 9.99% (Bank of Melbourne, Business Vantage) up to 14.99%, median 13.45%."
        },
        {
          "input": "eligibility: whether the reader is a student, already holds another of an issuer's cards (a companion card), or can join a lender open only to certain occupations (yes means read entries_all in best/ or top_all in top/)",
          "why": "Student cards, companion cards and lenders open only to certain occupations carry the restrictions student, companion_card and occupation_membership and are left out of the default ranking. Most cards also need a minimum income (min_income) and age (min_age).",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "The default view today has 52 banks; entries_all adds the rest."
        }
      ],
      "then_read": {
        "top_ten": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/top/{segment}/balance_transfer.json",
        "full_ranking": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/best/{segment}/balance_transfer.json"
      },
      "say_as_well": [
        "Quote the months, the promotional rate, the transfer fee (bt_fee_pct) and the revert rate together; the fee is paid up front on the whole amount moved.",
        "Say whether the offer is for new cards only, and that purchases on the card usually earn interest from day one while a transferred balance is owing.",
        "The ranking is by length of offer, then rate, fee and revert rate; a reader who will clear the debt in six months may do better with a shorter offer and no fee."
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "What are this bank's credit cards?",
      "also_asked_as": [
        "CommBank credit card rates",
        "ANZ Low Rate card annual fee",
        "NAB balance transfer offer"
      ],
      "has_no_single_answer": false,
      "ask_the_reader_first": [
        {
          "input": "segment: personal, business (the {segment} in the file path)",
          "why": "Business and corporate cards are priced and fee'd differently and need an ABN; a sole trader may use either.",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "low_rate: personal 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%; business 13 banks, from 9.99% (Bank of Melbourne, Business Vantage) up to 14.99%, median 13.45%."
        }
      ],
      "then_read": {
        "one_bank (field at_a_glance)": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/brands/{brand_slug}.json"
      },
      "say_as_well": [
        "at_a_glance gives the bank's entry per segment and kind; every card, ranked or not, follows in products with its rates, fees, offers, rewards and insurances."
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "Which rewards card is best?",
      "also_asked_as": [
        "best Qantas points credit card",
        "best frequent flyer card",
        "which card earns the most points"
      ],
      "has_no_single_answer": true,
      "ask_the_reader_first": [
        {
          "input": "segment: personal, business (the {segment} in the file path)",
          "why": "Business and corporate cards are priced and fee'd differently and need an ABN; a sole trader may use either.",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "low_rate: personal 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%; business 13 banks, from 9.99% (Bank of Melbourne, Business Vantage) up to 14.99%, median 13.45%."
        },
        {
          "input": "kind: low_rate, no_annual_fee, balance_transfer, rewards (the {kind} in the file path)",
          "why": "low_rate for a reader who carries a balance; no_annual_fee for one who pays in full and wants the cheapest card to hold; balance_transfer for one moving a debt from another card; rewards for one who pays in full and wants points, ranked by fee because points are not valued in the feeds.",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "personal: low_rate 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%; no_annual_fee 10 banks, from 10.24% (Coastline Bank, Visa Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 14.24%; balance_transfer 22 banks, the longest 26 months at 0.00% (NAB, Low Rate Card, 3% fee), median 20 months; rewards 24 banks, the cheapest to hold Coles Credit Cards (No Annual Fee Mastercard) at $0 a year; annual fees from $0 to $400, median $149, 1 unstated."
        }
      ],
      "then_read": {
        "top_ten": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/top/{segment}/rewards.json"
      },
      "say_as_well": [
        "This data names each card's programme and its fee, and a sign-up offer in the bank's words; it does not hold earn rates or point values, so it can say which rewards card is cheapest to hold but not which earns most.",
        "Send the reader to the programme's own terms for earn rates and caps."
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "How many interest-free days does a card have, and what do they mean?",
      "also_asked_as": [
        "up to 55 days interest free",
        "do I pay interest if I pay in full"
      ],
      "has_no_single_answer": false,
      "ask_the_reader_first": [],
      "then_read": {
        "any_slice": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/top/{segment}/{kind}.json"
      },
      "say_as_well": [
        "interest_free_days is the most days between a purchase and its due date when the previous statement was paid in full; a purchase made late in the cycle gets far fewer. Cash advances never have them, and nor do purchases while a balance transfer is owing.",
        "A reader who pays in full every month pays no purchase interest on any card, so for them the fee and rewards matter and the rate does not."
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "What is the average credit card interest rate?",
      "also_asked_as": [
        "typical credit card rate",
        "are credit card rates going up"
      ],
      "has_no_single_answer": true,
      "ask_the_reader_first": [
        {
          "input": "segment: personal, business (the {segment} in the file path)",
          "why": "Business and corporate cards are priced and fee'd differently and need an ABN; a sole trader may use either.",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "low_rate: personal 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%; business 13 banks, from 9.99% (Bank of Melbourne, Business Vantage) up to 14.99%, median 13.45%."
        },
        {
          "input": "kind: low_rate, no_annual_fee, balance_transfer, rewards (the {kind} in the file path)",
          "why": "low_rate for a reader who carries a balance; no_annual_fee for one who pays in full and wants the cheapest card to hold; balance_transfer for one moving a debt from another card; rewards for one who pays in full and wants points, ranked by fee because points are not valued in the feeds.",
          "how_much_it_moves_the_answer": "personal: low_rate 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%; no_annual_fee 10 banks, from 10.24% (Coastline Bank, Visa Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 14.24%; balance_transfer 22 banks, the longest 26 months at 0.00% (NAB, Low Rate Card, 3% fee), median 20 months; rewards 24 banks, the cheapest to hold Coles Credit Cards (No Annual Fee Mastercard) at $0 a year; annual fees from $0 to $400, median $149, 1 unstated."
        }
      ],
      "then_read": {
        "one_slice": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/best/{segment}/{kind}.json",
        "index": "https://deepalmanac.com/au/finance/credit-cards/v1/index.json"
      },
      "say_as_well": [
        "Give the median of one slice's ranking, not an average of rates.json (today, default slice: 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%).",
        "Only today's rates are kept."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "commentary": [
    {
      "topic": "purchase rate (kind low_rate)",
      "what_you_will_see": "A purchase_rate_pct, and an interest_free_days figure beside it.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "The ongoing rate charged on purchases not paid off by the due date. Today the default view has 52 banks, from 0.00% (CommBank, Interest-free Low Fee Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 12.49%. The interest-free days apply only when the previous statement was paid in full; a reader who pays in full every month pays no purchase interest, and the fee matters more than the rate.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Ask whether the reader carries a balance. If they do, rank by rate (kind low_rate); if they never do, rank by fee (kind no_annual_fee or rewards).",
      "do_not": "Do not quote a low rate to a reader who pays in full as if it saved them anything.",
      "check_it_yourself": "top/{segment}/low_rate.json: purchase_rate_pct, annual_fee, interest_free_days"
    },
    {
      "topic": "annual fee and monthly card fees",
      "what_you_will_see": "annual_fee with fee_period monthly and a smaller fee_as_stated.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "annual_fee is always the yearly figure. 8 of the 52 banks in the default view charge a monthly card fee instead of an annual one (CommBank, Westpac); it is multiplied by twelve so cards compare, and fee_as_stated keeps the monthly figure.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Quote the fee the way the bank charges it (\"$6 a month, $72 a year\").",
      "do_not": "Do not call a $6 monthly fee a $6 annual fee.",
      "check_it_yourself": "entries[].annual_fee, fee_period, fee_as_stated"
    },
    {
      "topic": "no annual fee (kind no_annual_fee)",
      "what_you_will_see": "A shorter ranking than low_rate.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "Only cards whose feed states a $0 card fee are in it: today 10 banks, from 10.24% (Coastline Bank, Visa Credit Card) up to 21.99%, median 14.24%. Several banks waive the first year's fee instead (first_year_fee_waived), which is not the same.",
      "say_this_as_well": "For a reader who pays in full each month, this ranking and the rewards ranking are the useful ones.",
      "do_not": "Do not describe a first-year waiver as no annual fee.",
      "check_it_yourself": "top/{segment}/no_annual_fee.json"
    },
    {
      "topic": "fees the feed does not state",
      "what_you_will_see": "annual_fee null with annual_fee_stated false and an annual_fee_note.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "The bank's feed lists a card fee with no amount, or no card fee at all. 3 of the 52 banks in the default view are like this. Such a card is never in the no_annual_fee ranking, because no fee stated is not the same as no fee.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Say the fee is not in the feed and send the reader to the bank's page (product_url or fees_url).",
      "do_not": "Do not treat a null annual_fee as $0.",
      "check_it_yourself": "annual_fee_stated and annual_fee_note on top/ and best/ entries; fees_url on best/ entries"
    },
    {
      "topic": "balance transfer offers (kind balance_transfer)",
      "what_you_will_see": "bt_promo_rate_pct 0.00 with bt_promo_months, bt_fee_pct and bt_revert_rate_pct.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "A promotional rate on a balance moved from another card, for the months stated, usually for a fee of a few percent of the amount moved, after which the balance is charged the revert rate, most often the cash advance rate. Today: 22 banks, the longest 26 months at 0.00% (NAB, Low Rate Card, 3% fee), median 20 months; 14 of the 22 state a transfer fee and 11 revert to the cash advance rate. New purchases on a card carrying a transferred balance usually get no interest-free days.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Quote the months, the fee and the revert rate together, and say whether the offer is for new cards only (for_new_cards).",
      "do_not": "Do not quote a 0% balance transfer without its fee and its end date, and do not rank balance transfer cards by purchase rate.",
      "check_it_yourself": "top/{segment}/balance_transfer.json: bt_promo_months, bt_fee_pct, bt_revert_rate_pct; every offer and for_new_cards in balance_transfer on the best/ entry"
    },
    {
      "topic": "rewards cards (kind rewards)",
      "what_you_will_see": "A rewards ranking ordered by annual fee, not by points.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "The feeds name the programme (rewards_program) and sometimes a sign-up offer in the bank's words (bonus_offer), but never what a point is worth or how many a dollar earns, so the cards are ranked by what they cost. Today 24 banks have a rewards card in the default segment, annual fees from $0 to $400, median $149, 1 unstated; 0 waive the first year's fee.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Name the programme and the fee; say that the value of points depends on how they are redeemed and is not in this data.",
      "do_not": "Do not say which rewards card earns the most; the data cannot support it.",
      "check_it_yourself": "top/{segment}/rewards.json: rewards_program, annual_fee, bonus_offer, first_year_fee_waived"
    },
    {
      "topic": "personalised purchase rates",
      "what_you_will_see": "purchase_rate_range_pct [low, high] beside the purchase rate.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "The bank prices the card by credit assessment within that range; the feed's headline rate is what is ranked. 0 of the 52 banks in the default view say so.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Give the range and say the rate offered depends on the reader's credit assessment.",
      "do_not": "Do not promise the low end of the range.",
      "check_it_yourself": "entries[].purchase_rate_range_pct, conditions"
    },
    {
      "topic": "introductory purchase rates",
      "what_you_will_see": "intro_purchase_rate_pct with intro_purchase_months.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "A lower rate on purchases for the first months of a new card, after which the purchase rate applies. 4 of the 52 banks in the default view have one. The ranking uses the ongoing rate.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Give the months and the ongoing rate after them.",
      "do_not": "Do not rank by the introductory rate.",
      "check_it_yourself": "entries[].intro_purchase_rate_pct, intro_purchase_months"
    },
    {
      "topic": "charge cards and corporate programmes",
      "what_you_will_see": "card_type charge or corporate in rates.json and on bank pages but in no ranking.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "7 charge cards (the balance is paid in full each month, so the rate is not comparable) and 6 corporate, purchasing or virtual card programmes (priced per business) are kept with their facts but not ranked.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Say they exist and point at the bank's file for their fees.",
      "do_not": "Do not say a bank has no business card because its charge card is unranked.",
      "check_it_yourself": "brands/{brand_slug}.json: products[].card_type, unranked_reason"
    },
    {
      "topic": "stale records",
      "what_you_will_see": "record_stale true with a leading condition.",
      "what_it_actually_means": "On a feed card, the bank has not republished the record for more than 180 days; card records are republished seldom, so this is common: 11 of 182 ranked cards today, and the rate is usually still right. On a document card (source_kind document) it means a sentence the figures were quoted from could not be found on the issuer's page today, and the card is left unranked until it is re-read.",
      "say_this_as_well": "Say the figures need checking on the bank's page.",
      "do_not": "Do not drop the entry.",
      "check_it_yourself": "entries[].record_stale, bank_last_updated, conditions[0]"
    }
  ],
  "commentary_note": "Figures here that a client will otherwise misread, each with what you will see, what it means, what to say, what not to do and the file and field that settles it.",
  "what_it_cannot_answer_yet": [
    {
      "question": "Does this include every credit card in Australia?",
      "why": "No. It covers the 59 issuers on the Consumer Data Right register whose feeds publish a credit card with a purchase rate, and only the figures in the feed, plus 3 read from their own pages (American Express, Zip, Wizit). Latitude, HSBC's retail cards and other issuers off the register are not here, and an offer that is not in an issuer's feed or on the page quoted is not here.",
      "where_to_send_the_reader": "The issuer's own card page for an offer not in its feed."
    },
    {
      "question": "Which rewards card earns the most points, and what are they worth?",
      "why": "The feeds name the programme and sometimes a sign-up offer; they do not give earn rates, caps or redemption values.",
      "where_to_send_the_reader": "The programme's own terms and earn-rate table."
    },
    {
      "question": "How much interest will I pay?",
      "why": "That depends on the balance carried, when it is paid and the interest-free days used; none of that is in a feed.",
      "where_to_send_the_reader": "A repayment calculator with the rate and fee from here."
    },
    {
      "question": "What was the rate or offer last month?",
      "why": "Only today's records are kept, and bank_last_updated is when the record was republished, not when a rate changed.",
      "where_to_send_the_reader": "The bank's own announcements."
    }
  ],
  "context_this_dataset_does_not_hold": [
    "Whether the reader pays in full each month, and how much they would carry.",
    "Earn rates, points caps and redemption values of rewards programmes.",
    "Issuers not on the Consumer Data Right register other than American Express, Zip and Wizit, and offers a bank does not put in its feed.",
    "The complimentary insurances' benefit limits and exclusions (the travel insurance dataset holds some: https://deepalmanac.com/au/insurance/travel/v1/card-policies.json).",
    "Fees a bank lists without an amount (annual_fee_note says when the card fee is one of them)."
  ],
  "not_advice": "Reference data, not financial advice. Rates, fees and offers are as each bank publishes them in its product data or, for American Express, Zip and Wizit, on its own pages."
}