Guide
What is credit card routing? (2026)
Credit card routing is the process of selecting the highest-earning card in your wallet for each specific purchase — based on merchant, category, active offers, and catch-all rates. Pikt automates this in real time.
Quick comparison
| Card | Best for | Earn rate | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual routing | Memory-based | Error-prone | — |
| Recommendation apps | Pre-swipe advice | Varies | — |
| Pikt | Automated routing | Optimal | Free tier |
Why most people pick the wrong card
Most people default to the same card at checkout — usually the one on top in their wallet. That habit quietly costs hundreds of dollars a year when another card in your stack earns 3×, 4×, or even 6× on the same purchase.
How Pikt routes smarter than guesswork
Pikt's router weighs your active offers, category earn rates, sign-up bonus progress, and credit-health signals, then returns the best card with a plain-English explanation.
Frequently asked questions
- Is credit card routing legal?
- Yes — you're choosing which of your own cards to pay with. Pikt recommends; you complete the purchase.
- How is Pikt different from Kudos or MaxRewards?
- Pikt carries the decision, not the dollars — no card issued, no money touched. Pikt Checkout names your best card before you click pay. You still pay with your own card. Coming next: Pikt Nearby will name your best card on your lock screen when you're ready to pay in stores.
- How is Pikt different from Curve?
- Curve is an all-in-one card that charges your other cards behind the scenes — but US networks penalize that model: your underlying card sees Curve's merchant code instead of the store's, so category bonuses collapse toward 1×; Amex blocked Curve in 2019; and Curve shut its US product in 2024. Pikt never issues a card and never touches your money. You pay with your own card directly, so the real merchant code reaches your issuer and your category bonuses are kept — nothing for a network to revoke.
$89 at Amazon → Venture X earns $3.29 (+$2.40 vs default card)
See your personal best cards
Generic advice assumes average spend. Tell us what you spend on, how you redeem, and which cards you carry — we'll name the best one you already hold for each area.
Where does your money go?
Pick your top spending areas and we'll show which of your cards earns most for each.
How do you want to use rewards?
No account needed · Free · Takes about 30 seconds
No account required · Free · Nothing is saved