Kiplinger readers are a savvy bunch, especially when it comes to making smart choices with their money. So for the third year running, we asked you to rate financial providers based on your experiences with them. More than 2,700 readers completed our survey earlier this year, judging the products and services they use in 13 categories, from brokers and wealth managers to annuity providers, tax software, and home and auto insurance companies.
In the survey, respondents scored providers on certain criteria, such as their experience with the company’s customer service team, the likelihood they would recommend the product or service to others, and their overall satisfaction with it. Readers also had the option to leave comments about their experience, and we have shared some of them in the full category guides (remarks may be lightly edited for length and clarity).
For each category, we’ve listed an overall winner that earned the highest total score. We’ve also listed other products and services that earned above-average scores for the various criteria we asked readers to assess. Many thanks to all of you who participated in the survey.
Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards Categories
Best Full-Service Brokers
We asked readers to evaluate brokerage firms whose offerings run the gamut of services to customers, whether online, by phone, through in-person assistance at brick-and-mortar branches, or some combination. Readers rated the strength of their broker’s customer service, how likely they are to recommend the firm to others and their overall satisfaction with the broker.
The overall winner is Fidelity Investments.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, best full-service brokers.
Best Wealth Management
These firms take a holistic look at your finances and offer advice tailored to you. Beyond assisting with investment strategies, advisers may help you manage credit and debt, savings, estate and tax planning, and more. 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 is Fidelity Wealth Management.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, best wealth management services.
Best Cash Back Credit Cards
Cash back cards usually offer simple terms and the opportunity to earn rewards on everyday purchases. We asked readers to rate cash back cards on the responsiveness of customer service, how likely they would be to recommend the card to others and their overall satisfaction with the card.
The overall winner is Fidelity Rewards Visa.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, best cash back credit card.
Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards
These cards typically offer extra points or miles on travel spending. And many heap on additional perks, such as statement credits for hotel, airline or dining purchases. Readers rated travel rewards cards on the strength of customer service, the likelihood they’d recommend the card to others and overall satisfaction.
The overall winner is the Platinum Card® from American Express.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, best travel rewards credit card.
Best Airline Card Rewards Programs
Airline credit cards reward brand loyalty. You’ll get miles or points for every flight you book with the airline, and with some programs, you can earn free airline tickets, access to airport lounges and other travel perks. We surveyed readers in three areas: strength of customer service, whether they would recommend the credit card program to others and overall satisfaction.
The overall winner is the Southwest Airlines credit card rewards program.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, airline credit card rewards programs.
Best Hotel Credit Cards Rewards Programs
As with airline card programs, hotel credit card programs reward you for being loyal to a particular hotel chain. The more you stay, the more perks you can receive, such as free nights, upgraded rooms, late checkouts and more. These hotel credit card programs earned top marks from our readers, who rated the programs on the strength of customer service, the likelihood they’d recommend the program to others and overall satisfaction.
The overall winner is the Marriott Bonvoy credit card program.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice 2025, Hotel Credit Card Rewards Programs.
Best National Banks
These large institutions have a presence in many states and offer branches where you can conduct transactions. We assessed readers’ overall satisfaction with their bank, their opinion of its customer service and the likelihood they would recommend the bank to others.
The overall winner is Chase Bank.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, best national banks.
Best Internet Banks
Internet banks often provide higher yields than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. The reason? Internet banks don’t have physical locations, so their overhead costs are lower, allowing them to pay out better rates. 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.
The overall winner is Charles Schwab Bank.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, best internet banks.
Best Auto Insurance Companies
We asked readers to weigh in on auto insurance, judging their primary provider based on how competitive the rates are, their experience with filing claims and how likely they are to recommend the insurer to others. The following companies stood out from the rest in our survey.
The overall winner is USAA.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, auto insurance companies.
Best Homeowners Insurance Companies
Readers rated their homeowners insurance provider based on how competitive the rates are, how positive the experience is when filing a claim and how likely they would be to recommend the insurance company to others. Most of the providers that collected accolades for homeowners insurance are also honorees for their auto insurance services.
The overall winner is USAA.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, homeowners insurance companies.
Best Annuity Providers
Annuities are contracts that allow you to pay an amount up front or over time in exchange for the opportunity to create a steady stream of income in retirement; they may be fixed or variable, and they may provide income immediately or in the future. We asked readers to assess their annuity provider based on customer service, their overall satisfaction with the company and how likely they are to recommend it to others.
The overall winner is New York Life.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, best annuity providers.
Best Tax Software
These programs guide taxpayers through the ins and outs of preparing and filing a tax return. The offerings vary depending on your return’s complexity and whether you want help from a tax pro. We asked readers to rate their preferred tax-filing software based on ease of use, how likely they are to recommend the service to others and overall satisfaction with it.
The overall winner is FreeTaxUSA.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, tax software.
Best Peer-To-Peer Payment Apps
Peer-to-peer payment apps allow you to digitally send and receive money with friends and family from your smartphone. We asked readers to evaluate their preferred payment app’s ease of use, their overall satisfaction with it and how likely they are to recommend it to others.
The overall winner is Apple Cash.
Read our full guide: Kiplinger Readers' Choice Awards 2025, best peer-to-peer payment apps.
How Readers Chose Their Winners
Kiplinger readers were invited to take the Readers’ Choice Awards survey on Kiplinger.com between February 20 and March 21, 2025. 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, 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, annuity providers, tax software and peer-to-peer payment services.
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 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
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