Methodology
How Pikt decides which card to use
Published by Pikt Rewards LLC. Published . Last reviewed .
Pikt compares the cards you provide and estimates which one earns the most on a purchase, with rewards shown in dollars. It checks the reward rules and eligible offers, then explains the recommendation. Pikt estimates rewards; issuer terms and final rewards apply. You choose your card and pay as usual.
1. Recommendation objective
Pikt ranks supported cards already in the user's wallet for the purchase in front of them. It does not rank every card on the market unless a public guide says that it is a general comparison. It does not apply for a card or make the payment.
Pikt personalizes each estimate to the cards you already carry, the purchase details, and any reward values you set. It learns from confirmed card choices over time, while verified rewards math remains the basis for the result and the explanation.
2. What can change the recommendation
The store category, purchase amount, cards in the wallet, eligible offers, reward values, spending caps, and card acceptance can change the answer.
Base rates and category bonuses
Pikt starts with each supported card's normal earn rate. It then checks whether a merchant or purchase category can receive a higher rate.
Merchant and category information
A merchant name helps Pikt choose a likely purchase category. The card issuer uses the merchant category code on the final transaction. That code can differ from the category a user expects.
Rotating and selected categories
A rotating, selected, or activated category counts only when the available product data and the user's settings show that it is active for the card and period.
Eligible offers
An offer can affect the estimate only when Pikt has enough information to treat it as eligible. An offer that needs activation in an issuer app does not apply until the user activates it.
Caps, fallback rates, and known fees
When Pikt has the required data, it checks tracked spend against an earnings cap, uses the rate that applies after the cap, and subtracts a known purchase-specific card-use fee. Some shared or unusual caps cannot be modeled exactly.
Reward values
Set your own cents-per-point value for each reward program. Pikt uses your rate, not an industry average, when it recommends which card to use.
If the user has not set a value, Pikt uses the maintained fallback value for that reward program. Cash back, points, and miles can then be compared as estimated dollars.
3. Important limits
- Card issuers determine transaction categorization and final rewards.
- Merchant coding can differ by location, checkout method, or payment processor.
- Reward rates, offers, caps, exclusions, fees, and expiration dates can change.
- A user may not be eligible for an offer even when another cardholder is eligible.
- The catalog does not include every card, and some reward rules cannot be represented exactly.
- Users should check current issuer terms when the difference matters.
4. Data freshness
Pikt keeps reward rules in a maintained card catalog. Editors update records when issuer terms are reviewed or a correction is confirmed. Curated offers have their own expiry checks.
Pikt has no single public review schedule for every card, so some rates may be out of date. The date at the top shows when this methodology page last changed. It does not show when each card's rates were checked.
Our editorial policy explains who writes Pikt's guides, what the dates on each page mean, and how to report a mistake.
5. Numbered example: an $80 dinner
A user provides a 2% cash-back card and a dining card that earns 4 points per dollar. The user values those points at 1.25 cents each.
- The restaurant is treated as dining, so the 4-point rate is eligible.
- The dining card earns 320 points. At 1.25 cents each, that is about $4.00.
- The 2% card earns about $1.60.
- Pikt suggests the dining card and shows an estimated $2.40 difference. The user chooses the card and pays the restaurant.
Try the method with your wallet
Enter a store and amount to see which supported card may earn the most. The result is an estimate, not a guarantee.
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