Frequently Asked Questions

Cardzen compares supported information across the cards in your wallet, recommends a card to consider for a purchase, and helps keep tracked credits and benefits visible.

Yes. The Free plan covers unlimited cards, the full card catalog with benefits and reward rates, AI chat for card recommendations, and your wallet dashboard. Cardzen also has a Pro plan with additional features like credit tracking, AI actions, and the Daily Zen.

Yes. Cardzen doesn't collect full card numbers, CVVs, bank account numbers, or bank login credentials. We only store the cards you carry and your benefit information so we can give you recommendations and track your credits. We never sell your personal financial details or share identifiable data with advertisers, and you can delete your account at any time.

Cardzen works without linking a bank. Start manually, and keep any future connection optional.

Go to Previous Chats to see all your past conversations with the AI. Click any conversation to continue it or review past recommendations.

Cardzen supports a growing catalog of U.S. rewards cards from major issuers, including Chase, American Express, Capital One, Citi, Bank of America, Discover, Wells Fargo, and more. Search the current catalog during setup to confirm a specific card.

Open My Cards, select Add Card, search by card name or issuer, and choose the card. You can use Add another card to add more cards one at a time. Benefits load automatically.

Email us at support@cardzen.ai and we'll add it. We're constantly expanding our card database to include more issuers and cards.

There's no need. Benefits are the same regardless of how many physical cards you have. Add it once to track all its benefits.

Closing: Use Manage Card > Close or remove card when the issuer account is actually closed. The card moves to Past cards, new tracking stops, and its Cardzen timeline and eligible past report history stay available.

Removing: Use Added by mistake only when the card should not have been added to Cardzen. It permanently deletes the card and its saved Cardzen credit history, streaks, tracking preferences, and timeline without creating a Past card. This cannot be undone, but it changes Cardzen only and does not close or cancel the issuer account.

Permanent deletion requires the current My Cards or current Cardzen chat flow. Older installed versions and connected assistants retain their compatibility soft-removal behavior and can keep saved history.

Freezing: The card stays active in My Cards but is excluded from recommendations. Use this when the account is still open but you do not want Cardzen to recommend it.

Many credits reset on your card's anniversary, not January 1. Without an opened date, Cardzen estimates these periods from the month when you added the card. Open the card and select Manage Card > Card timeline to edit the current period. The month and day determine anniversary timing, while the year determines how far back Cardzen treats the card as held.

Credits are fixed-value benefits you can redeem from your card. Unlike points (which you earn), credits are "use it or lose it." They reset at the end of each period.

Go to My Credits, click on the credit, select "Redeemed" (or "Partially Used" if you only used some of it), and save.

Depends on the credit:

• Monthly: 1st of each month
• Quarterly: Jan 1, Apr 1, Jul 1, Oct 1
• Semi-Annual: Jan 1, Jul 1
• Annual (Calendar): January 1
• Annual (Anniversary): Your card start date

Check the current period's opened date by opening the card in My Cards and selecting Manage Card > Card timeline. If it is not set correctly, anniversary-based credits may show incorrect periods.

• Redeemed: Fully used this period
• Partially Used: Some value used, more remaining
• Available: Ready to redeem
• Not Tracked: Tracking turned off

Credit history is scoped to the periods in the card's Card timeline. Each new card starts with an estimated opened date on the first of the month when you add it. You can correct that date, record a closure, or add a later ownership period from My Cards under Manage Card > Card timeline. Gaps between periods are not counted as time you held the card.

When you add a card, Cardzen normally estimates its opened date as the first of the current month. Edit the current period under Manage Card > Card timeline to replace the estimate with the real date.

Yes. Go to My Cards, open the card, then select Manage Card > Card timeline and edit its current period. This controls the card's anniversary date and the dates Cardzen treats it as held.

Open the card under Past cards, select Manage Card > Card timeline, and add a new period with the date you got the card again. Keep the old period unchanged. Cardzen uses both periods for eligible history and excludes the time between them.

The flame badge is your streak, the number of consecutive periods you've used that credit (fully or partially). It appears once you reach the threshold for the credit's period: 4+ for monthly credits, 3+ for quarterly or semiannual credits, and 2+ for annual credits. Streaks are a Pro feature. See Credit Streaks for how they're calculated.

The streak recomputes from your full usage history every time your credits sync. If you missed a period (marked "not used" at the end) or undid a previous "used" mark, the current streak drops. Your personal best (max streak) is preserved, so only the current streak can go down.

Yes. Both used and partially used count as a hit. Only not used at the end of a period breaks the streak. Not Tracked and disabled periods are skipped entirely.

For a closed card, Cardzen preserves saved credit and streak facts while the card is outside your active wallet. If you reopen that Past card by adding a new ownership period, Cardzen recalculates current streaks from eligible tracked periods. A gap is excluded rather than treated as a missed redemption, so do not expect the exact prior current-streak badge to return automatically.

For Added by mistake, Cardzen permanently deletes the card's saved credit and streak history, including its personal best. The card has no Past-card timeline, and adding it again starts clean.

Ask about best cards for purchases, compare cards, get strategy advice, or research new cards. Examples:

• "What's my best card for groceries?"
• "Compare my travel cards"
• "Is the Amex Gold worth it for me?"

The AI considers your cards' multipliers, available credits, spending bonuses, and any preferences you've set. It weighs these factors to suggest the best option.

Yes! Go to Preferences and set custom instructions. Tell it things like "I prefer cashback over points" or "I'm trying to maximize airline miles."

No. Cardzen does not currently access your bank transactions or balances. The AI uses the cards, benefits, and activity you add to Cardzen. Cardzen works without linking a bank, and any future connection remains optional.

Yes, with Cardzen Pro. AI actions can make card or credit changes on your behalf during a conversation:

• Add new cards to your wallet
• Update credit status (mark as redeemed, partially used, etc.)
• Set card preferences
• Freeze or unfreeze cards

Free users can still ask the AI questions and get recommendations, and they can manage cards manually from My Cards. If a free user asks chat to make a card or credit change, the AI explains that chat-based card and credit changes are a Pro feature.

Eligible Pro chats can search current public information for card, rewards, issuer, travel benefit, and relevant merchant questions. The AI normally uses no search or one focused search, and may use up to three distinct searches when the question has separate evidence gaps. Answers link only to sources returned by the search provider.

You can also request search in a follow-up. For example, after asking which card to use at a merchant, say "look it up online." Cardzen uses the immediately preceding question as the search subject.

Search does not look for private account details, personal records, people, or unrelated topics. Successful searches are subject to operational limits that are currently configured at up to 50 per day and 500 per month; these are not guaranteed service levels and may change. If live search is unavailable or at a limit, chat continues without claiming that current information was verified.

To keep one response entirely within your saved Cardzen data, say "do not search the web" or "answer without browsing." That explicit opt-out takes priority for the message.

The Daily Zen is an AI-generated summary that appears when you start a new chat. It shows expiring credits, quick wins, and your monthly progress. Learn more in the Daily Zen help section.

Voice input and spoken responses are available in the Cardzen iOS app. They are not part of the web or desktop experience. Configure your voice preferences in Preferences and download the app from the App Store.

Natural Voice is a premium, AI-generated voice available to Pro subscribers with four options (Aria, Nova, Atlas, Sage). Standard Voice uses your iPhone's built-in text-to-speech and is available to everyone.

In Preferences > Voice, set Voice Summaries to Do not read summaries aloud. Voice input will still work, but responses will be text only.

Yes. Cardzen plays spoken responses like a podcast or music app, so they come through regardless of the silent switch. Turn off Voice Summaries in Preferences if you want to stay quiet.

Yes. The Cardzen iOS app is available on the App Store. The native app adds push notifications for Pro expiring credit reminders, a weekly roundup separate from the Daily Zen inside the app, and card renewal reminders for all tiers, plus voice input and natural voice playback. See Notifications for details. Cardzen also runs at app.cardzen.ai in any mobile browser if you prefer the web.

Not yet. Android is not on the roadmap. Cardzen works in any Android browser, and you can install the web app to your home screen from the browser menu.

Yes. Download the Cardzen iOS app from the App Store for the best mobile experience. On Android or other devices, open app.cardzen.ai in your browser and use the browser's own menu to add the web app to your home screen.

Go to Account and expand the Danger Zone card. You can delete chat history or your entire account (which includes all cards and credit data).

Go to Account to update your account email address.

Go to Account, find the Account card, and click the Name row to edit it.

Deleting your account permanently removes all your data including:

• All cards and credit tracking history
• All chat conversations
• All preferences and settings

This action cannot be undone. You'll need to type "DELETE" to confirm.