The method starts by removing the wrong cards.
Dean does not begin with the largest welcome offer or the highest affiliate payout. It starts with the job, removes options that conflict with your constraints, and ranks what remains by usable value.
Inspect the source catalog →Constraints first. Fit second. Monetization never.
Name the job
Cash back, travel, a balance transfer, a planned purchase, credit building, credit repair, newcomer access, business spending, or improving the current wallet each needs different math.
Apply hard filters
A card leaves the candidate set when it conflicts with a user’s stated eligibility, cost limit, issuer restriction, payment plan, timing, or existing product family.
Rank usable value
Dean rewards fit with actual spending, benefits the user will use, cost, simplicity, and missing wallet coverage. It does not count a credit at full value just because the issuer advertises it.
Show the catch
Every result includes the limitation most likely to make another card better. A narrow fit claim is more useful than a universal winner.
Allow no-card outcomes
Dean can recommend waiting, prequalifying, requesting a product change, repairing a report, paying down debt, or keeping the current card.
Hard filters
A bad fit cannot buy its way back in.
- Personal or business audience
- Stated credit range
- SSN, ITIN, or newcomer path
- Annual-fee limit
- Issuer and balance-transfer conflicts
- Cards already in the wallet
- Repayment and application timing
Fit factors
The remaining cards compete on the user’s real job.
- Primary job the card must do
- Reward fit for stated spending
- Usable credits and benefits
- Annual fee and transfer costs
- Booking, membership, or deposit friction
- Overlap with the current wallet
- Material drawback most likely to change the choice
What Dean does not know
The model stops where the evidence stops.
No approval prediction
Issuers decide approval, credit limits, and account terms. A stated credit range is a screening input, not an approval promise.
No unpublished-rule certainty
Issuer rules change and are not always published. Dean treats recent-account patterns and similar policies as cautions unless a current primary source makes them certain.
No targeted-offer visibility
Dean cannot see branch offers, account-specific upgrades, retention offers, or prequalified terms unless the user sees them and compares them directly.
No hidden value assumptions
Transferable points, lounge access, credits, and status count only when the user’s answers support a realistic use.
Data and corrections
Every material card fact links to the issuer source.
The packaged marketplace records a review date for each product. Terms can change after review. Dean keeps the live issuer source beside the recommendation and accepts corrections at hello@meetdean.com.