The short version: creditplanner.in earns affiliate commissions
when you apply for a credit card through our links and are approved.
That is our only revenue source.
We do not charge users, run advertising, or sell data.
CycleIQ (app.creditplanner.in) is completely free and has no revenue source.
The revenue model
CreditPlanner.in operates as a free service for all users. We do not charge subscription fees,
consultation fees, or application fees of any kind. We earn money through one source:
- Affiliate commissions from banking partners. When you click an "Apply Now" link on our site
and subsequently receive a credit card, the issuing bank pays us a referral fee. This is standard practice in
the credit card comparison industry.
We do not earn money through:
- Display advertising or banner ads
- Sponsored content or paid card placements (cards do not pay to appear on our site)
- Selling user data to any third party
- Subscription or premium membership fees
- Consultation or advisory fees
How affiliate commissions work
Here is the exact sequence of events when you apply for a card through our platform:
The affiliate journey — step by step
1
You click "Apply Now" on a card listing
Our affiliate link redirects you to the bank's official website. The link contains a tracking code
that identifies us as the referral source.
2
You complete the application on the bank's website
You enter your personal and financial details directly on the bank's platform. This data goes to the
bank — not to us. We have no access to it.
3
The bank evaluates your application
Approval or rejection is entirely at the bank's discretion based on their internal credit assessment.
We have no visibility into or influence over this decision.
4
If you are approved and receive the card
The bank's affiliate programme registers the successful referral and adds a commission to our account.
This commission is typically paid monthly in arrears.
5
The commission is paid by the bank, not by you
The fee comes from the bank's marketing and customer acquisition budget. Your card's annual fee,
interest rate, and reward structure are identical whether you applied through our link or directly through
the bank's website.
What it costs you
Nothing. Applying through our links costs you nothing extra.
The credit card you receive — its annual fee, joining fee, interest rate, credit limit, reward rates,
and all other terms — is determined solely by the bank based on your application and creditworthiness.
Our referral link does not change any of these terms in any direction, positive or negative.
In some cases, banks offer exclusive welcome bonuses through specific comparison partners.
Where we are aware of such offers, we display them. These are promotional offers from the bank —
we do not mark up or inflate them.
Does it affect our recommendations?
This is the most important question to answer honestly. Here is the complete picture:
What commissions do NOT affect
- Whether a card is listed on our site
- The rating or score assigned to a card
- Which cards appear in quiz results for a given profile
- The accuracy of information we publish about any card
- Whether we report negative aspects of a card honestly
What commissions do affect
- Which banks are featured on the site — we can only list cards from banks with active affiliate
partnerships
- Some genuinely good cards from banks without affiliate partnerships do not appear on our platform
Our quiz results and card comparisons are based on the profile inputs you provide — employment type, income
bracket, and spending category. A card with a higher commission rate does not receive preferential placement over
a more suitable card for your declared profile.
We are aware that this explanation could easily be a hollow assurance.
The honest acknowledgement is this: you cannot fully verify our editorial independence —
that requires trusting our word. What we can tell you is that our business depends entirely
on user trust. A recommendation that leads to a poorly-suited card, a rejected application,
or a surprised user permanently destroys a relationship. Our incentive is aligned with yours:
the right card recommendation is more valuable to us long-term than a marginally higher commission.
What we do not do
- We do not accept payment from banks to improve their ranking or rating on this platform. Our
listings are not sponsored placements.
- We do not mark cards as "recommended" or "best" in exchange for a higher commission rate.
- We do not hide the affiliate relationship. Every affiliate link on this site is labelled
"Affiliate link" at the point of use. We do not use shortened links that disguise the affiliate relationship.
- We do not sell your personal data. We do not share user data with banks or affiliate networks
beyond what is necessary for commission tracking (which is purely click-level data, not personal information).
- We do not run advertising. No banner ads, no sponsored search results within the site, no
paid newsletter placements.
CycleIQ (app.creditplanner.in)
CycleIQ is entirely free with no current revenue source.
CycleIQ (app.creditplanner.in) — the daily billing cycle planning tool — has:
- No affiliate links of any kind
- No advertising
- No paid features or premium tier
- No in-app purchases
- No data sold to third parties
CycleIQ currently operates at no cost to users and generates no revenue for us.
We built it because no one else had, and because we believe helping existing cardholders
use their cards correctly is genuinely valuable.
We may introduce an optional paid tier in the future — for example, features such as
push notifications, multi-device sync, or extended history. If and when we do, we will:
- Update this page with full details before launch
- Notify all registered CycleIQ users by email with at least 30 days notice
- Keep the core daily action engine free permanently
Our commitment
Transparency about money is not a legal obligation for a site our size — it is a choice.
We publish this page because we think users deserve to know exactly how the platform works commercially.
If you ever feel that a card recommendation on this site appears biased, commercially motivated,
or inaccurate, we want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] with your feedback.
We will investigate and respond.
If you prefer to apply for any card directly through the bank's website without using our affiliate link,
you are welcome to do so. The card's terms will be identical. We would simply not receive the commission —
and we think you should know that option exists.