Firstcard Editorial Guidelines
Why we write, and the rules we follow
Our mission: make finance simple, accessible, and transparent, so everyone can choose the right financial products with confidence.
Our vision: a world where anyone can pursue the American Dream without their financial situation holding them back.
Money touches everyone, but most financial content quietly assumes one kind of reader. Firstcard is written for every starting point: building credit from zero, rebuilding after a rough stretch, or sitting on an 800 score and looking for a better deal. One place for all of it: from your first cash advance to your first credit card, bank account, loan, insurance, and beyond. Every financial product, honestly explained, under one roof. That shapes every rule below.
Our principles
1. Plain English, always. Too much financial writing assumes you have a finance degree, or at least a college one. We think that's a failure of the writer, not the reader. So we hold ourselves to a simple standard: everything we publish should be clear on the first read, no jargon without an explanation right there in the sentence. It's the same discipline the world's biggest news organizations use, because plain language is faster for everyone, beginners and experts alike.
2. The whole truth, including the ugly parts. Every fee, every catch, upfront. If a product has a $9.99 subscription hiding behind a "0% interest" headline, that goes in the first paragraph, not the footnotes.
3. Independence. Our writers and editors are never paid based on partner relationships. Partners never see or approve content before it's published. Rankings and ratings follow How We Rate Financial Products: money can't move them.
4. Financial inclusion, by design. Most finance sites are built around one kind of reader: great credit, steady paycheck, years of history. We build for every starting point. Whether you have an 800 score and want to save money on insurance, or no credit history yet and need your first card, you'll find products and advice that fit where you actually are. No reader is an edge case here.
Facts and corrections
- Every article is fact-checked against primary sources: company pricing pages, terms and conditions, government data, and our own product database.
- When we find a mistake, we fix it as fast as we can.
- Spot an error? Email support@firstcard.app. We read everything.
How we use AI
We use AI tools to help research products, check data, draft content, and keep fee information current. We're open about that because transparency is the whole point of this site. Two rules keep it honest:
- Humans are accountable for everything we publish. AI helps us work; our editorial process (verification against primary sources, fact-checking, and review) decides what goes live.
- The data comes first. Every fee and claim traces back to a real source: the company's own pricing page, store listings, or regulatory filings.
Who writes our content
Every article shows its author. Visit any writer's profile page to see who they are and what they've written.
Read How We Make Money · How We Rate Financial Products · Our Partners · Advertiser Disclosure
