SwipeCaddy relaunches CCPicks as a free card-rewards picker

SwipeCaddy is now live on the Apple App Store and Google Play, reviving the founder’s 2017 CCPicks concept as a free app that tells shoppers which credit card in their wallet earns the most at a given merchant. The company is pitching a no-commission, no-bank-login approach as rewards programs get more complex.

Why it matters: - Credit card rewards have become harder to optimize as cardholders juggle rotating bonus categories, store-specific offers and multiple earning rates. - SwipeCaddy aims to reduce lost cash back, points and miles by telling users which card to use before they pay. - The app’s no-affiliate, no-bank-connection model is meant to keep recommendations independent of issuer payouts and user transaction access.

What happened: - SwipeCaddy launched as a free credit card rewards app on the Apple App Store and Google Play. - The app is a revival of CCPicks, a credit card optimizer founder Jangul Aslam first built in 2017. - SwipeCaddy tells users which card in their wallet earns the most at stores, restaurants and gas stations. - The app is available on iOS, Android and the web.

The details: - SwipeCaddy offers five ways to find the best card: Swipe Spot, Nearby, Swipe Scope, Swipe Signal and browsing by categories or merchants. - Swipe Spot names the best card for the user’s current location. - Nearby shows a map of nearby stores tagged with the top-earning card. - Swipe Scope uses the phone camera to overlay a card recommendation on a storefront. - Swipe Signal is a beta location alert that prompts the user when they arrive at a store. - Categories and merchants browsing lets users check specific spending types or stores. - SwipeCaddy covers more than 150 U.S. credit cards. - The app tracks cash back, points and miles across groceries, dining, gas, travel and online shopping. - The web catalog is available at SwipeCaddy’s website. - The full methodology is published at How we value points and miles. - Reward rates are pulled from issuer websites and include verification dates and source links. - SwipeCaddy ranks cards using reward rate multiplied by a conservative cash value per point, minus any surcharge. - Transferable bank points are valued at 1 cent. - Airline miles are valued at 1.1 to 1.3 cents. - Hotel points are valued at 0.4 to 1.4 cents. - The Pro upgrade costs $3.99 per month, $29.99 per year or $99.99 for lifetime access. - Pro removes ads and unlocks Swipe Scope camera use, Swipe Signal alerts and unlimited Swipe Spot recommendations. - The app and full web catalog are free, and no signup is required to browse the catalog.

Between the lines: - SwipeCaddy is positioning itself against rewards apps that monetize through affiliate commissions or bank connections. - The lower-point valuations reflect a conservative approach that emphasizes what users can reliably redeem, not the best-case transfer value. - Aslam said he shut down CCPicks years ago but believed people were still losing money on everyday purchases, and that SwipeCaddy is the version he always wanted to build.

What’s next: - SwipeCaddy will continue expanding and maintaining its merchant and rewards database through its web catalog and app. - The company is likely to use Pro subscriptions to support features such as camera-based recommendations and location alerts. - Swipe Signal remains in beta, suggesting more refinement before broader rollout.

The bottom line: - SwipeCaddy is betting that shoppers want a simple answer to a complicated rewards problem, without giving up bank access or trusting commission-driven rankings.