How this comparison is ordered
There is no composite score behind these lists, and no editor deciding who deserves to be first. The order comes from one number that the provider publishes, applied the same way every time, so you can check it yourself against the column you are looking at.
How the order is decided
Borrowing is ordered by the published rate, cheapest first. That means the representative APR where the provider publishes one, because APR is the figure that carries fees as well as interest — a lower headline rate with a large arrangement fee is not a cheaper loan, and ordering on the headline rate would put it first anyway.
Savings and deposits are ordered the other way round, highest yield first, for the same reason: in both cases the list runs from the best price to the worst, and which direction that is depends on whether you are paying or being paid.
The basis actually in force is named at the top of each list rather than left to be inferred, because it is not always the same. Where a product type publishes no comparable rate, the list is ordered alphabetically by provider rather than given an invented ranking, and we say so in the same place.
An offer with no rate at all sorts last rather than first. This sounds obvious and is worth stating, because the natural way to write the comparison — treating a missing rate as zero — would put every provider that publishes nothing at the top of a cheapest-first list.
What the order is not
It is not advice, and it is not a prediction that you will be approved. Cheapest first is not the same as best for you: the top of a list can be a product you are not eligible for, or one whose term does not suit you.
It is not a quality judgement, and it does not reflect customer service. Where we publish an editorial review or a star rating, that is written separately by a person, sits on the provider's own page, and has no effect on where the provider appears in a list.
Market coverage
In this market we track licensed providers supervised by OCC, FDIC and the CFPB. Where a category has too few licensed providers to rank fairly, we publish the list without a ranking.
Where a page is translated but not yet backed by local product data, it is marked noindex until local data exists.
The rule above is the whole of it. This note is how to read a list once you are in United States.
What the top of a list does not mean
It does not mean you will be approved, and it does not mean the product is cheapest for your file. The lowest advertised APR still goes to strong applicants, and a representative rate describes what a proportion of accepted borrowers were given rather than what you will be offered. Browse personal loans or lenders, then match on amount and term — we run no credit search.
There is no second, commercial order sitting behind the one you can see. Where the numbers come from: data sources. How we are paid: editorial policy. The same ground in prose: how Bankmatch compares loans.