Inspiration
Schools don't teach us enough about finance; as high school students, we're largely unexposed to the world of finance and many high school seniors feel unprepared to start managing their own money. Credit cards are a big deal, and provide a lot of freedoms, but are also a huge responsibility and it's hard to dive into the world of credit cards. Choosing a card in particular is challenging; the amount of options make it difficult to choose. Our application helps people easily get started with selecting a credit card that's right for their spending habits.
What it does
Cardet takes in a file that contains the user's transaction data; this file can be easily exported from Mint's transaction information service and saved as a csv file. The user then inputs this file into the web application, as well as a few pieces of information such as credit score, maximum fees, and a few conditions. Cardet then uses this information to calculate which credit card will give them the most cashback by plugging their information in and getting the bonuses for each category. Cardet also factors in fees and one-time bonuses to get the most accurate information for its users.
How we built it
Cardet is based off a Python script that runs when the user inputs all of their information through a Django form; this script correctly parses the csv files and then uses the values and categories to calculate the benefits for each card. The credit card data is also stored in a separate file which contains one credit card's information per line, which includes the annual fees, one-time bonuses, overall cashback, and cashback per category. Cardet sorts all of the categories and subcategories as listed in the Mint transactions document and applies any bonuses that the credit card provides for those categories. Cardet then determines whether the user is eligible for the bonuses and subtracts the annual fee at the end, and finally sorts the cards based on which one provided the most cashback for our user. This information is then sent to the results page which renders all of the best cards for our user.
Challenges we ran into
Working with Django was rather challenging until we switched to a local host.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Although working with Django proved to be a challenge, we were able to connect our Python scripts to the front-end work on the website. We also used bootstrap to make the user interface more clean and user-friendly; the ties between front- and back-end were particularly challenging for us and finally seeing the script's values on the Results page was a huge victory.
What we learned
We learned quite a bit about working with Django, which proves to be extremely useful when using Python for web development. File structure was also crucial throughout the process, and we gained many command line skills as well as organizational strategies.
What's next for cardet
For right now, Cardet functions best with cashback benefits. Useful additions moving forward would include factoring in other bonuses such as airline miles or rewards points. Calculating the impact of these values would help compare more credit cards and make the comparisons more accurate, helping the user better choose their best fit.
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