Plain answers to money questions, with the math shown.
RatesMatter helps people understand the tradeoffs behind a financial decision before they choose a provider.
Who publishes RatesMatter
RatesMatter is published by Digital Edge Media Group, LLC. It explains mortgages, home equity borrowing, refinancing, banking, credit cards, and personal loans in plain language, with calculators that show the math and a small set of real product listings with dated, sourced terms.
RatesMatter is not a lender, bank, broker, or credit decision maker. We do not take applications, and our calculators run in your browser without sending your inputs to lenders. Product terms, eligibility, and approval come from the provider you choose.
What you will find here
The learning center has 34 guides, each built around a worked example with its math shown, a comparison table, a checklist, and links to the primary sources behind its sections. There are 11 calculators, from mortgage payments and affordability to home equity borrowing, cash-out refinancing, points, savings growth, and debt payoff. The comparison center lists 15 real products across 5 categories, each with the date we last checked it against the provider’s own page.
A glossary defines the mortgage and home equity terms used throughout the site, and each definition links to the guide that explains it in depth.
How RatesMatter makes money
11 of the 15 provider listings are editorial, with no advertiser or referral relationship. Ally Bank (online savings account), SoFi (fixed-rate personal loan), and Upgrade (personal loans through partner banks) are advertisers and are labeled Sponsored Listing: RatesMatter may earn a commission if you apply through their links. Marcus by Goldman Sachs (online savings account) links through its referral program and is labeled Sponsored Listing: RatesMatter may receive a rate bonus or other compensation from Marcus if you open an account through that link.
Commercial relationships are labeled on each listing card and disclosed again in the listing details, and they do not change the default alphabetical order or the optional sort by published rate. The educational guides are not sponsored, and a provider relationship does not change what a guide says.
How we create and check content
Guides start from primary sources such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, the IRS, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Each cited page is opened and checked against the claim it supports before publishing. Every figure in a guide or calculator example is recalculated by automated checks, and the site will not build if a figure no longer matches the math.
Each update is reviewed before it goes live. The date at the top of a guide changes only when its content changes substantively, and corrections are handled under a published policy.
Contact
Questions, corrections, and partnership inquiries can be sent through the contact page or to info@ratesmatter.com. Please do not send account numbers or sensitive financial documents.
