Data Sources
Every statistic on GeekPenny traces back to a primary source. Below is the master list of datasets and authorities we pull from. Page-level citations also appear in the Data Sources block at the bottom of each review, comparison, best-of, and rate page.
Last updated April 24, 2026 · Maintained by the GeekPenny Editorial Team
Federal & regulatory
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — complaint database, enforcement actions, rules.
- Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) — conforming loan limits, house-price index.
- NMLS Consumer Access — mortgage lender, broker, and originator licensing.
- HMDA (FFIEC) — Home Mortgage Disclosure Act application and origination data.
- NAIC — insurance complaint index, financial filings.
- FRED (St. Louis Fed) — interest rates, Treasury yields, macro indicators.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — wages, unemployment, CPI.
- U.S. Census Bureau — demographics, household income, housing characteristics.
- FDIC — bank financial reports, deposit data.
Industry & ratings
- J.D. Power — customer satisfaction studies for mortgage origination, credit cards, auto and home insurance.
- Better Business Bureau (BBB) — accreditation status, ratings, complaint volume.
- Trustpilot — consumer review aggregate.
- AM Best — insurer financial-strength ratings.
- PCI Security Standards Council — PCI-DSS requirements and merchant levels.
- Federal Reserve Payment Systems — payment-volume and interchange data.
Provider-direct sources
- Published rate sheets, loan-estimate samples, and pricing pages from each provider we cover.
- Provider 10-K, 10-Q, and call-report filings where applicable.
- Provider PCI / SOC / SOX disclosures for merchant-services pages.
- Direct conversations with provider PR and product teams on the record.
GeekPenny original research
- Mystery-shop application flows on representative borrower / merchant profiles.
- Quote-comparison panels run quarterly across mortgages, auto, home, and merchant services.
- Effective-rate calculators applied to standardized ticket-size scenarios.
How we cite at the page level
Every YMYL page renders a Data Sources block that lists the specific sources used for that page, with links and access dates where applicable. If a citation looks broken or out of date, please email corrections@geekpenny.com.