CardWise

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Privacy Policy

Last Updated: January 2025

Introduction

CardWise ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information when you use our mobile application.

TL;DR: We don't collect, store, or transmit your personal data. Everything stays on your device.

What Information CardWise Does NOT Collect

CardWise is designed with privacy as a core principle. We do not collect, transmit, or store any of your personal information on our servers. Here's what we specifically DO NOT collect:

  • Real Credit Card Numbers: CardWise never asks for or stores your actual credit card numbers, CVV codes, expiration dates, or any sensitive banking information
  • Personal Identification: No names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, or any personally identifiable information
  • Transaction History: Your spending records and transaction data never leave your device
  • Location Data: We don't track or collect your location
  • Usage Analytics: No behavioral tracking, analytics, or telemetry data is collected
  • Device Identifiers: We don't collect device IDs or any hardware information

How CardWise Works - Complete Privacy

CardWise is designed to work entirely on your device without any server communication for your personal data:

What You Enter:

  • Country Selection: You select your country to see relevant credit cards. This selection is stored locally on your device only and is used to display cards available in your region with appropriate currency formatting.
  • Card Selection: You select credit cards from our pre-loaded database of popular cards. The app already includes cashback rates for these cards - you never enter actual credit card numbers, CVV codes, or any real banking credentials.
  • Card Nicknames (Optional): You can optionally add a personal nickname for each card (e.g., "My Travel Card"). This is purely for your reference and stays on your device.
  • Transaction Logging: When you manually log spending, you enter:
    • Amount spent
    • Spending category (groceries, dining, gas, etc.)
    • Which card you used (from your saved cards)
    • Date of purchase
    • Optional: Merchant name and personal notes
    All this data is stored locally on your device in iOS UserDefaults. The app then calculates your cashback earnings based on the card's rates from our database.

What Stays on Your Device:

All of the following data is stored exclusively on your device using iOS UserDefaults and never leaves your device:

  • Your selected country
  • Your saved cards (only the card IDs from our database, nicknames, and dates you added them)
  • All your transaction records (amounts, categories, dates, optional merchant names and notes)
  • Calculated cashback earnings
  • App preferences and settings

Local Data Storage Only

All data you enter into CardWise is stored exclusively on your device using iOS UserDefaults (Apple's secure local storage). This includes:

  • Card Preferences: Which cards you've selected from our database and any nicknames you've added
  • Transaction Records: All spending amounts, categories, dates, and optional merchant names you manually log
  • Spending Insights: All statistics, charts, cashback calculations, and card recommendations are computed locally on your device
  • App Settings: Your selected country, preferences, and app customizations

Important: This data never leaves your device. It is not synced to our servers, transmitted over the internet, or shared with anyone. The data is protected by your device's security measures, including iOS encryption when your device is locked.

No Real Banking Information Required

CardWise is a manual tracking and recommendation tool, not a bank or financial institution. Here's what that means:

  • You are never asked to connect your actual bank accounts
  • You are never asked to provide real credit card numbers, CVV codes, or expiration dates
  • You simply select your card type from our database of popular credit cards
  • The app uses publicly available cashback rate information for these cards
  • Transaction tracking is completely manual - you decide what to log
  • Optional nicknames you create are for your reference only

This manual selection approach ensures maximum privacy: we can't collect sensitive information because you never provide it. You're in complete control of every piece of information in the app.

Subscription and Payment Information

If you subscribe to CardWise Premium, your payment is processed entirely by Apple through the App Store. We use RevenueCat to verify your subscription status, but:

  • We never see your credit card or payment information
  • We only receive an anonymous identifier to verify your subscription
  • No personal information is shared with us

Apple's Privacy Policy governs how your payment information is handled.

Third-Party Services

CardWise uses minimal third-party services, and importantly, none of them receive your card data, transaction history, or personal information:

  • RevenueCat: Used solely for subscription management. Only an anonymous identifier is shared to verify your subscription status. RevenueCat never receives any information about your cards, spending, or transactions.
  • Apple Services:
    • App Store (for app distribution and in-app purchases)
    • Push notifications (only if you enable them - used for optional spending reminders)

What we DON'T use:

  • No analytics services (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, etc.)
  • No advertising networks or ad tracking
  • No crash reporting tools that collect personal data
  • No social media integrations or tracking pixels
  • No location tracking services

Children's Privacy

CardWise is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect any information from children. Since we don't collect any data at all, this is guaranteed.

Data Security

Your data security is ensured by:

  • All data staying on your device, protected by iOS security
  • Encryption when your device is locked
  • No transmission of sensitive information over the internet
  • No central servers storing your information

Your Rights

Since we don't collect your data, you have complete control:

  • Access: All your data is accessible within the app at all times
  • Deletion: Simply delete the app to remove all data from your device
  • Export: Premium users can export their data from within the app
  • Portability: Your data can be exported in standard formats

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or CardWise's privacy practices, please contact us at:

Email: cardwise.app@gmail.com

Since we don't collect your data, most privacy concerns are automatically addressed by our architecture. However, we're happy to answer any questions you may have.

No Server-Side Data Processing

CardWise operates fundamentally differently from most financial apps:

  • No Data Transmission: Your card information, transactions, and spending data are never transmitted to any server, including ours
  • No Account Required: You don't create an account, so there's no server-side profile with your data
  • No Cloud Storage: All data stays on your device only - nothing is synced to any cloud service or our servers
  • All Processing Happens Locally: Cashback calculations, spending insights, card recommendations - everything is computed on your device using your device's processor

This architecture makes it technically impossible for us to access, collect, or misuse your financial data - because we never receive it in the first place.

Summary

The Bottom Line:

  • ✅ You select card types from our database - never enter real card numbers, CVV codes, or credentials
  • ✅ Cashback rates come from our pre-loaded database - you don't manually enter or configure them
  • ✅ All transaction data is stored locally on your device in iOS UserDefaults
  • ✅ Your country selection is only used locally to show relevant cards and currency
  • ✅ Nothing is sent to our servers - no tracking, no analytics, no data collection
  • ✅ We can't access your data even if we wanted to - we never receive it
  • ✅ Your spending habits, transaction history, and preferences remain 100% private

CardWise is built with privacy by design. We believe your financial data is yours alone, and we've architected the app to ensure it stays that way.