Which cards demand the most babysitting?

The count

Three inputs, one dollar-free load.

For each credit the score counts, three things add to the load: how many expiry deadlines it creates per year (a monthly credit adds 12, a quarterly one 4, a twice-a-year credit 2, a yearly one 1); whether it needs a one-time enrollment or app link; and whether it only counts at named merchants or through the issuer's portal. Deadlines are divided by 3, each enrollment counts once, and each restriction counts as a half — the sum is the load. A card with no scored credits scores 10; the score falls as the load grows, on the curve published on the methodology page.

Credits the score already excludes — per-use perks, one-time bonuses, high-spend unlocks — add no load, because a typical holder ignores them and the score does too.

How to read it

High upkeep is not a verdict. It is a price.

A card at the top of this table can still be the best card in your wallet — if you actually work the credits. The Effort pillar is 30% of the Card Score precisely so that a coupon book of monthly credits does not read as free money. Pair a card's row here with its credit ledger, and with the reset calendar, to see which deadlines you would really be signing up for.