Glossary · Rewards
Category Multiplier
A category multiplier is the rate at which a card earns rewards in a given spending category — e.g. 4× points on dining or 6% back at U.S. supermarkets.
Each card defines multipliers per category plus a flat catch-all rate for everything else. The best wallet covers your highest-spend categories with the highest multipliers and falls back to a strong flat card elsewhere.
Pikt's optimization score grades how well your linked cards cover core categories — dining, groceries, travel, gas, and online — and flags gaps where a single swap would unlock more value.
Related terms
- Unified Valuation Model (UVM) — The Unified Valuation Model converts every card's points, miles, and cash back into a single cash-equivalent dollar figure so different reward currencies can be compared on one scale.
- Merchant Category Code (MCC) — A Merchant Category Code is a four-digit number assigned by card networks that classifies what a merchant sells — e.g. 5812 for restaurants or 5411 for grocery stores.
- Catch-All Rate — A catch-all rate is the flat reward rate a card earns on purchases that do not qualify for any category bonus — for example 2% back or 1.5× points on everything else.