Editorial Policy

What we publish

Guides that help readers find the official service for their card, recognize imitations, understand billing information and respond to scams. The aim is practical, defensive advice in plain language.

We don’t publish instructions for testing cards, getting around address verification or other fraud controls, or defeating a merchant’s security — however it might be framed.

How topics are chosen

• What people actually search for when they want to check a card, a balance or a website.
• Scam patterns that consumer protection agencies keep warning about.
• Questions and corrections readers send us.
• Subjects where existing explanations are confusing, outdated or written mainly to sell something.

Research and sources

We lean on, in roughly this order:

1. Government consumer-protection and cybersecurity agencies.
2. Industry standards bodies and published program terms.
3. Issuers’ and providers’ own help documentation.
4. Respected independent security organizations.

We avoid anonymous forums, sites that sell card-checking services, and anything we can’t trace to a primary source. Sources are listed at the end of each guide.

Writing standards

• Plain language first. Technical terms are explained the first time they appear.
• Claims about laws, protections and processes are qualified where they differ by country or issuer.
• No statistics unless they come from a source we can name.
• No promises that following a guide will make anyone completely safe.
• Example web addresses are invented, so no real site is ever pointed at or accused.

How AI is used

We use AI tools to help draft and structure guides. The output is a starting point, never a source: facts are matched against the references listed in each guide, and anything we can’t support is cut.

Guides are not reviewed by financial, legal or security professionals, and we don’t claim they are. That’s why each guide shows a “Last updated” date rather than a “Last reviewed” one.

Bylines

Guides carry the byline “Check My Card”, meaning the site itself. We don’t attach invented names or credentials to articles. If named contributors are ever added, their real roles will be shown.

Updates and corrections

Every guide shows when it was published and last updated. We revisit guides when sources change or when readers flag a problem. Verified errors are corrected promptly — see the Corrections Policy.

Brand and commercial independence

Check My Card is not affiliated with any bank, card issuer, card network, payment processor or gift-card company. We mention a brand only where it helps readers reach the right official service, we don’t use brand logos, and we don’t reproduce official websites or cards. Guides that name a brand carry a short independence notice.

No one pays for coverage, placement or favorable wording. If advertising or affiliate links are ever added, they will be labeled clearly, kept apart from editorial content and described on this page. We will never promote card-checking or card-validation services.