Getting Started with SpendAndReward
Choosing the right card for each purchase is hard.
Annual fees, rotating categories, welcome bonuses, and credits that reset on different schedules all add complexity. Most people leave a lot of value on the table because it’s too much to track.
SpendAndReward helps you turn that complexity into a simple plan:
- Which cards to carry and keep
- Which card to use at a given merchant
- Which new card might be worth applying for next
This guide walks you through getting set up and using the key features for the first time.
1. What SpendAndReward Does (At a Glance)
SpendAndReward focuses on three things:
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Map your wallet
A structured view of your cards: issuer, network, annual fee, rewards, and key credits. -
Match cards to merchants
For any given merchant, see which of your cards is likely to earn the most value today, including promos and boosts when possible. -
Compare welcome offers
A curated set of template cards with estimated first‑year value that you can use as a “next card to consider” list.
You don’t need to enter card numbers or connect bank logins; SpendAndReward works from card and benefit details.
2. Create Your Account and Sign In
- Go to spendandreward.com.
- Create an account with your email and password.
- Complete any 2FA or verification steps if prompted.
- After logging in, you’ll land on the main dashboard or cards page.
From here, the first thing to do is add your existing cards.
Want to follow along? Create your SpendAndReward account .
3. Add Your Credit Cards
SpendAndReward needs to know what you already carry so it can recommend the best matches.
3.1 Add a Card from Templates
For most popular cards, you can start from an admin template:
- Go to My Cards and choose Add card.
- Search for the card by issuer + product name (for example, “Chase Sapphire Preferred”).
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Select it and confirm details like:
- Annual fee
- Reward type (points, miles, cashback)
- Any notes you care about (for example, main use case)
Behind the scenes, SpendAndReward copies a detailed reward matrix for that template into your account so it can calculate expected value by merchant and category.
3.2 Add a Custom Card (If Needed)
If a card isn’t in the template library:
- Choose the manual add option.
- Fill in:
- Issuer and network
- Default earning rate
- Reward type (points, miles, cashback)
- Annual fee
You can adjust category‑specific rates later if you want, and you can always come back and edit cards as your wallet changes.
4. Understand Card Credits and “Cal / Mem” Labels
Many premium cards come with credits: airline, hotel, rideshare, streaming, and more. These boosts can be a big part of a card’s value—but only if you actually use them.
SpendAndReward tracks these template‑level credits and shows their estimated yearly value in a consistent way.
4.1 Calendar vs Cardmember Year
Each credit in the system has a reset type:
- Cal – resets on the calendar year
- Mem – resets on your cardmember year (for example, each anniversary)
In places like the Explore Offers page and merchant recommendations, you’ll see credit lines like:
Hotel Credit (Travel) $300/yr (Cal)Uber Cash (Travel) $200/yr (Mem)
This makes it clear how often each benefit comes back, without taking too much space—especially on mobile.
4.2 Effective Value vs Face Value
SpendAndReward also distinguishes between:
- Face value – what the bank advertises (for example, “$200 airline credit”).
- Effective value – a more realistic estimate based on typical usage.
Credits are rolled up into a “~$X in credits / year” summary so you can quickly see how much of a card’s first‑year value comes from credits versus rewards.
5. Explore Welcome Offers
The Explore Welcome Offers page is your curated view of high‑value template cards.
Here’s how to read each tile:
- Card header – card name, issuer, network, and a small “Business” pill if it’s a business card.
- Welcome offer pill – a plain‑English summary of the signup bonus (for example, “75,000 points for spending $4,000 in 6 months”).
- Annual fee – listed clearly so there are no surprises.
-
Estimated first‑year value – SpendAndReward’s estimate that combines:
- Ongoing rewards on a neutral amount of spend
- Signup bonus value
- Credits (using effective value)
- An adjusted impact of the annual fee
If the card has credits, you’ll see:
- A line such as
Includes ~$2470/yr in credits -
A Credits breakdown panel you can expand:
each line shows
$/yr (Cal)or$/yr (Mem)as described above.
Use this page to build a shortlist for your next card, not as a command. Always weigh bank rules, things like 5/24‑style policies, and your own comfort level.
See current welcome‑offer picks
6. Find the Best Card for a Merchant
The other big value of SpendAndReward is helping you choose which card to use at a specific place.
6.1 Search for Nearby Merchants
From the merchants section, you can:
- Use a “near me” / current location search to see merchants around you, or
- Search by name or location (for example, “Trader Joe’s 10001”).
Once you pick a merchant, SpendAndReward looks at:
- The merchant’s category
- Your cards’ reward rates and promos
It returns a ranked list with:
- Your Top 3 Cards for that merchant
- Next Best Cards just behind them
This is where your card setup really pays off: the more accurate your cards and rewards are, the better the suggestions.
6.2 Template Recommendations at a Merchant
Below your own cards, some merchant pages include an “Our Recommendations” section. These are template cards you don’t currently own that could perform well at that merchant.
A few important points about this section:
- Each suggested card is chosen based on how its reward rates and credits line up with that merchant’s category, using the same logic that powers your “Top Cards” list.
-
If a recommended card includes yearly credits, you’ll see the same
/yr (Cal)or/yr (Mem)labels you saw on the Explore Offers page, so you can quickly judge how realistic those benefits are for you. - The recommendations update over time as card offers and card details are refreshed in the system.
Think of this section as a shortlist of ideas for what your next card could be, grounded in how you actually spend at that type of merchant—not as financial advice or a directive to apply.
7. Build a Simple Rewards Plan
Once you’ve added your cards and explored a few merchants, you can start turning insights into a plan:
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One everyday workhorse
The card you’ll default to when nothing special is going on. -
A few category specialists
Cards you use specifically for groceries, dining, travel, or your main spending categories. -
Occasional new card
Use the Explore Offers page and merchant recommendations to occasionally add a new card when:- The estimated first‑year value clearly exceeds the annual fee, and
- You can reasonably hit the minimum spend.
Keep your plan written down somewhere simple and adjust it as your wallet changes.
8. Keep Your Account Up to Date
To keep SpendAndReward useful over time:
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Update cards when you:
- Add a new card
- Close a card
- Get a product change
- Review credits once or twice a year: make sure the credits and their reset types still match how you use the card.
- Revisit Explore Offers occasionally: see if any new welcome offers fit your goals.
9. Where to Go Next
If you’re new to SpendAndReward:
- Step 1: Create your account and add 2–4 of your main cards.
- Step 2: Run a merchant search for a place you visit often (grocery, gas, a favorite restaurant).
- Step 3: Check the Explore Offers page to see if any welcome offers stand out after accounting for fees and credits.
From there, you can dive deeper into:
- How we rank welcome offers
- How we value points vs miles vs cashback
- Detailed examples of specific cards and setups
Get started in the app | Learn how we rank credit cards