The honest answer to
“How do you make money?”
Most rate comparison sites are incentivized to steer you toward certain products. We’re built differently — and we’ll prove it.
The bidding lender with the lowest cost offer appears first — no one can pay to rank higher.
Rankings are determined solely by the cost of the offer to you — never by what a lender pays us. We survey 600+ lenders nationwide. By making lenders bid to win your business, our rates have outperformed 99%+ of banks and credit unions over the past year.
We earn a fixed fee. Nothing more.
Our business model is structurally aligned with your outcome — we only win when you find a genuinely great rate.
The industry’s hidden conflicts.
Legacy rate comparison platforms make more money when you get a higher rate. Here’s what they typically won’t tell you.
How we’re paid
Fixed fee — same regardless of rate
We have zero financial incentive to show you a worse rate. The fee is identical whether a lender’s rate is high or low.
How we’re paid
Variable fee — often higher for pricier lenders
Mortgage brokers earn a percentage of the loan, which can be richer from lenders who charge higher rates — a structural conflict of interest.
Your personal data
Shared only with the lender you choose — at the moment you choose them
When you select a lender, we share what’s needed to complete your request with them. That’s it. Nothing leaves before you make a choice, and nothing goes to any lender you didn’t pick.
Your personal data
Sold to anyone who’ll pay — before you even hit submit
Some sites monetize your intent the moment you start typing. Partial form data is captured in real time and sold to lenders and data brokers before you’ve submitted anything. By the time you click “see rates,” your phone number is already in circulation.
How lenders are ranked
By lowest overall cost to you — never for sale
Lenders participating in our live auction are identified with a blue action button. The lender with the lowest overall cost to you appears first. No one can pay to improve their ranking.
How lenders are ranked
Pay-for-prominence is standard practice
Lenders can pay for “featured” or exclusive placement regardless of their rate — so the most prominent result isn’t necessarily the best deal.
Comparison universe
600+ lenders surveyed — 100+ bidding for you
Bankrate pulls rates from over 600 lenders and more than 100 are live bidding for your business. Most mortgage brokers bring you the “best rate” from just 2–4 lenders — so you think you’re winning, but the measure of relativity has been manipulated.
Comparison universe
Deliberately narrow, to favor bigger spenders
Mortgage brokers and other sites restrict the number of options presented, creating an illusion of rate competition and favoring lenders with higher compensation.
Phone calls
You initiate every connection
No lender can call you until you authorize us to share your contact information.
Phone calls
Standard. Immediate. Unavoidable.
Submitting your information routinely triggers calls from multiple lenders within minutes — because your data was sold.
Cost to you
$0
Bankrate is free for consumers. Lenders fund the platform by competing fairly for your business.
Cost to you
Hidden in your rate
Broker fees are often baked into the rates lenders quote — meaning you pay, just invisibly, every month for the life of your loan.
What happens when you use Bankrate
01
You enter what you're looking for
Rate, loan details, deposit amount, credit profile, etc. — depending on the product.. No spam calls. No hard credit pull at this stage.
02
Bankrate generates and filters offers
We use your anonymized criteria to pull and filter available, competitive offers. Your personal information stays on Bankrate's platform. It is not sent to any institution at this stage.
03
You compare — with no obligation
Browse results as long as you like. Nothing has been shared with any institution. You can leave at any time. No follow-up from institutions will occur unless you initiate it.
04
You start an application — and only then does your information move
When you choose to proceed, your information is shared with that institution — and only that institution — at that moment. Bankrate earns a fixed fee from them.
We get asked a lot. Here are straight answers.
See what lenders will compete to offer you.
Live offers in minutes. No spam calls.
By making lenders bid to win your business, our rates have outperformed 99%+ of banks and credit unions over the past year.
Featured by names you know and trust
Who we are and why we exist
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For over 40 years, we've had one job: show people what the market actually offers. Real data, better rates.
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