Why I built a US credit card site from the UK
My name is Mike Lucas. I'm based in the United Kingdom — which makes me an unlikely person to be running a credit card resource for American consumers. But that distance, I've come to realise, is actually one of this site's biggest strengths.
I've had a long-standing interest in personal finance — both in the UK and across global markets. A few years ago, I started looking closely at the US credit card landscape. What struck me immediately was how sophisticated the rewards ecosystem is — cash back, travel points, sign-up bonuses, 0% balance transfer windows — and yet how poorly a lot of that complexity is explained to ordinary consumers.
Too many sites are written to convert you, not to inform you. Card comparison pages are designed around affiliate clicks. "Best of" lists are shaped by whoever pays the highest commission. The person sitting at the kitchen table trying to work out whether a balance transfer card will actually save them money is, too often, an afterthought.
MyCardRates.com is my answer to that. A free, independent, plain-English resource covering the full credit card spectrum — from premium rewards cards for frequent travellers to secured cards for people rebuilding their credit from scratch. No sign-up walls. No sales calls. No agenda beyond helping you make a better-informed decision about a financial product that, used well, can genuinely improve your financial life.
I'm not a financial advisor, and this site isn't financial advice. What it is, is honest information — written clearly, kept current, and built around the questions real people actually ask.