The Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards aim to recognize and celebrate the best products and services in the personal finance arena. We asked you, our Kiplinger community, to help us name the products and services you think have delivered excellent value in the past year.
The survey results, which we’re sharing here in our second annual Readers’ Choice Awards, offer valuable insight into which providers shine when it comes to your everyday interactions and experiences with them. Our Awards recognize excellence in everything from credit cards, banks and brokers to insurers, tax software and financial apps. For each category, we’ve listed an overall winner that earned the highest score. We’ve also highlighted other products and services that earned above-average scores for various criteria we asked readers to assess.
By voting, our community has helped us form our guide to the very best financial products. These are the products and companies that you think stand out from the crowd.
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Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards Categories
Best Wealth Management
Readers rated wealth managers based on the quality of financial advice they received, the trustworthiness of the advisers, how likely they would be to recommend the firm to others and their overall satisfaction with the wealth manager.
The overall winner was J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 best wealth management services winners.
Best Donor-Advised Funds
We asked readers to assess the donor-advised funds they use based on how suitable the investment options are, the likelihood they would recommend the fund to others and their overall satisfaction with the fund.
The overall winner was Fidelity Charitable. Read our full guide to Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 best donor-advised funds to see all of the winners.
Best Cash Back Credit Cards
Many of those who use a rewards credit card prefer simple, straightforward rewards in the form of cash back. That’s no surprise, given that a cash back credit card is the simplest and most effective way to earn credit card rewards. We asked respondents to rate their cards on the strength of customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the card to others and how satisfied they are overall.
Our overall winner was Fidelity Rewards Visa. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 best cash back credit card winners.
Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards
These cards provide the greatest value to frequent travelers, who can redeem points or miles for flights, hotel reservations, car rentals and more. Some come with perks such as rental car insurance and access to airport lounges. Readers judged travel rewards credit cards on the strength of customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the card to others and how satisfied they are overall with the card.
Our overall winner was Capital One Venture X. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 best travel rewards credit card winners.
Best Airline Credit Card Rewards Programs
Airline cards provide miles or points on purchases, which passengers can put toward flights. Readers evaluated airline card programs on customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the card program to others and how satisfied they are overall with the card program
Our overall winner was the Alaska Airlines credit card rewards program. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 airline credit card rewards programs winners.
Best Hotel Credit Cards Rewards Programs
Readers evaluated hotel card programs on customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the card program to others and how satisfied they are overall with the card program.
The overall winner was the World of Hyatt credit card program. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice 2024 Hotel Credit Card Rewards Programs winners.
Best National Banks
These large brick-and-mortar institutions have a presence in many states, and they offer a range of products and services, including checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit and loans. We assessed readers’ overall satisfaction with their bank, their opinion of its customer service, and the likelihood they would recommend the bank to others.
Our overall winner was KeyBank. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 best national banks winners.
Best Internet Banks
Survey respondents judged these institutions on customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the bank to others and how satisfied they are overall with the bank.
Our overall winner was Discover Bank. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 best internet banks winners.
Best Full-Service Brokers
We asked readers to assess brokerage firms that offer a breadth of services, whether online, by phone, through in-person assistance at branches, or some combination. Readers rated the strength of their broker’s customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the firm to others and their overall satisfaction with the broker.
Our overall winner was Fidelity Investments. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 best full-service brokers.
Best Auto Insurance Companies
Readers weighed in on their auto insurance provider based on how competitive the rates are, their experience with filing claims and how likely they would be to recommend the insurer to others.
Our overall winner was Erie Insurance. Read our full guide to see all the winners of the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 auto insurance companies.
Best Homeowners Insurance Companies
Readers assessed their homeowners insurance provider based on how competitive the rates are, how positive the experience has been when filing a claim and how likely they would be to recommend the insurance company to others. Several of the winners here are also winners in auto insurance, making it easier for you to select a bundled service with one outstanding company.
The overall winner was USAA. See Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024: Homeowners Insurance Companies to learn more about the companies you chose as winners.
Best Peer-To-Peer Payment Apps
Peer-to-peer payment apps have developed a wide reach as they have become faster and easier to use. Readers rated the P2P service that they use most based on ease of use, the likelihood they would recommend it to others and their overall satisfaction with the service.
Our overall winner was Apple Cash. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 best peer-to-peer payment apps.
Best Tax Software
We asked readers to rate their preferred tax-filing software based on ease of use, how likely they would be to recommend the service to others and overall satisfaction with the software.
Our overall winner was FreeTaxUSA. Read our full guide to the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 tax software winners.
How Readers Chose Their Winners
Kiplinger readers were invited to take the Readers’ Choice Awards survey on Kiplinger.com between February 20 and March 15, 2024. The survey was fully completed by 4,528 people.
The survey asked respondents to choose the financial product or service that they most frequently use in 13 categories: full-service brokerage firms, wealth managers, donor-advised funds, cash-back credit cards, travel rewards credit cards, airline credit card rewards programs, hotel credit card rewards programs, national banks, internet banks, auto insurers, homeowners insurers, tax software and peer-to-peer payment services. (Because of a scripting error, the survey did not collect scores for Wells Fargo in the national banks category. We apologize for the omission.)
We asked readers to rate each provider they selected on a scale of one to 10 based on a few criteria. In many categories, readers rated the strength of customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the product or service to others, and how satisfied they are overall with the provider. In some categories, we included more nuanced criteria. With wealth management firms, we asked respondents to rate the trustworthiness of a firm’s advisers and the quality of its financial advice. For donor-advised funds, respondents evaluated the suitability of investment options. For peer-to-peer payment apps and tax software, respondents evaluated ease of use, and for auto and home insurance companies, readers judged the competitiveness of rates and strength of the claims experience.
We calculated an average (mean) score for each criterion with each provider. We also calculated an overall mean score for all providers for each criterion we asked readers to judge. We compared individual provider mean scores with the overall mean, and the three highest-scoring providers that had a score above the overall mean won an “outstanding” accolade; in cases of a tie, more than three providers are named, and if fewer than three qualifying providers achieved an above-average score, only those providers are named “outstanding.” In each category, providers are generally listed in descending order by the number of criteria for which they received the “outstanding” designation — so a product or company that is deemed “outstanding” in three areas, for example, is listed before a provider with one or two “outstanding” awards.
To choose an overall winner in each category, we added together the mean scores for each criterion rated for each product or service. The provider with the highest total score in each category took the prize for overall winner.
Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards Categories