---
title: "RateAPI Data Quality: 97.2% Scrape Success, 94% Fresh"
description: "RateAPI data quality (June 2026): 97.2% scrape success, 94% of rates verified within 7 days, 99.2% rate accuracy across 3,700+ credit unions."
canonical: "https://rateapi.dev/methodology/data-quality"
last-updated: "2026-10-10"
source: "https://rateapi.dev/llms.txt"
---

# Data Quality Metrics

RateAPI scrapes mortgage, auto, HELOC, personal loan, and credit card rates from 3,700+ credit unions daily. As of October 9, 2026, 97.2% of scheduled scrapes succeed, 94% of rates are verified within 7 days, and rate accuracy measured against manual samples is 99.2%. Anomalous or stale data is never served as current.

Last updated: October 9, 2026

[Home](https://rateapi.dev/) / [Methodology](https://rateapi.dev/methodology) / Data Quality

97.2%

Scrape Success Rate

Percentage of scheduled scrapes that complete without errors

94%

Verified (7 Days)

Rates verified within the last 7 days

95%

Fresh (<24h)

Rates observed within the last 24 hours

<3

Open Anomalies

Flagged records pending review

## Scraping Frequency

RateAPI scrapes most credit union rate sources daily, and the top 100 institutions by volume twice daily. This continuous schedule keeps data fresh while respecting source website resources.

Source Type

Frequency

Coverage

Credit Union Rate Pages

Daily

3,700+ institutions

PDF Rate Sheets

Daily

~800 institutions

Embedded Widgets

Daily

~200 institutions

High-Traffic Institutions

Twice Daily

Top 100 by volume

## Validation Process

Every scraped rate passes through multiple validation layers before being served via the API.

1

### Schema Validation

All extracted data must conform to our schema: rate (number), apr (number or null), points (number), term (months), productType (canonical category).

2

### Range Checks

Rates must fall within expected ranges: mortgage rates 3-12%, auto loans 2-25%, HELOCs 5-15%, personal loans 5-36%. Out-of-range values are flagged.

3

### Consistency Checks

APR must be greater than or equal to rate. 15-year rates should be lower than 30-year rates. Jumbo rates should be near conforming rates.

4

### Historical Comparison

Changes exceeding 50 basis points in 24 hours trigger review. Complete rate disappearance triggers investigation.

5

### Cross-Source Verification

When possible, rates are verified against multiple pages within the same institution's website.

## Error Handling

When errors occur, we follow a systematic process to minimize impact on data quality.

### Scrape Failures

If a scrape fails, we retry with exponential backoff (1h, 4h, 12h). After 3 failures, the source is marked for manual review. Previous valid data is retained with a staleness flag.

### Parsing Errors

When page structure changes break our parsers, we detect this via empty or malformed results. AI-assisted extraction attempts recovery. Human review follows if needed.

### Data Anomalies

Anomalous data (rate jumps, impossible values) is quarantined and excluded from API responses until reviewed. We never serve unverified anomalous data.

## Historical Accuracy

Over the last 30 days, RateAPI achieved 99.2% rate accuracy and 98.7% APR accuracy when scraped values were compared against manually verified samples. We track accuracy by random sampling against source websites.

Metric

Value

Period

Rate Accuracy

99.2%

Last 30 days

APR Accuracy

98.7%

Last 30 days

Product Classification

99.5%

Last 30 days

False Anomaly Rate

2.1%

Last 30 days

Accuracy is measured by random sampling and manual verification against source websites. Discrepancies are investigated and corrected.

## Quality Guarantees

✓

### No Stale Data

Data older than 7 days is marked with a staleness flag. Data older than 14 days is excluded from default API responses.

✓

### Source Attribution

Every rate includes the source URL where it was observed, allowing independent verification.

✓

### Timestamp Transparency

Every response includes observed_at timestamp showing exactly when the data was collected.

✓

### Correction Lineage

When corrections are made, we maintain full audit history. Original values are preserved with correction reason codes.

## Data Quality FAQ

### How fresh is RateAPI rate data?

94% of rates are verified within the last 7 days and 95% are observed within 24 hours. Most sources are scraped daily; the top 100 credit unions by volume are scraped twice daily.

### How accurate is the data?

Over the last 30 days, RateAPI achieved 99.2% rate accuracy, 98.7% APR accuracy, and 99.5% product classification accuracy against manually verified samples.

### What happens when a scrape fails?

Failed scrapes retry with exponential backoff (1h, 4h, 12h). After 3 failures the source is flagged for manual review, and the last valid rate is retained with a staleness flag.

### Does RateAPI ever serve anomalous rates?

No. Anomalous data is quarantined and excluded from API responses until reviewed, and data older than 14 days is excluded from default responses.

Learn more in our [full methodology](https://rateapi.dev/methodology) , see the data behind our [mortgage rate benchmark](https://rateapi.dev/mortgage-rate-benchmark) , or browse the [credit unions](https://rateapi.dev/credit-unions) we track.

## Questions About Data Quality?

We're committed to transparency. If you have questions about our data collection or find discrepancies, please reach out.

[Full Methodology](https://rateapi.dev/methodology) [Contact Us](mailto:support@rateapi.dev)

RateAPI

RateAPI Routes turns confirmed customer facts into source-backed shortlists of published products from 3,700+ tracked US credit unions. Every promoted route keeps its membership and price evidence.

[Get API key →](https://rateapi.dev/api-key) [Sign in](https://app.rateapi.dev)

### Build

- [RateAPI Routes →](https://rateapi.dev/routes)
- [Product Matching API](https://rateapi.dev/financial-product-eligibility-api)
- [Membership Eligibility API](https://rateapi.dev/api/eligibility)
- [Rate Query API](https://rateapi.dev/rates-api)
- [Decision API](https://rateapi.dev/api/reference)
- [Batch Decisions API](https://rateapi.dev/api/batch-decisions)

### Deliver

- [Developer Portal →](https://rateapi.dev/developers)
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- [OpenAPI spec](https://api.rateapi.dev/openapi.json)
- [MCP Server](https://rateapi.dev/mcp)
- [Widget builder](https://rateapi.dev/widget-builder)
- [RateAPI Routes widget](https://rateapi.dev/widget-docs/routes)
- [Market Rates widget](https://rateapi.dev/widget-docs/rates)
- [Webhooks](https://api.rateapi.dev/webhooks)
- [Versioning & deprecation](https://rateapi.dev/deprecation-policy)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/rate-api)

### Solutions

- [Personal finance apps](https://rateapi.dev/use-cases/personal-finance-apps)
- [AI purchase advisors](https://rateapi.dev/use-cases/ai-purchasing-tools)
- [AI agents](https://rateapi.dev/use-cases/ai-agents)
- [Car buying platforms](https://rateapi.dev/use-cases/car-buying-platforms)
- [Credit unions](https://rateapi.dev/for-credit-unions)
- [Loan officers](https://rateapi.dev/use-cases/loan-officers)
- [Rate data for ALM](https://rateapi.dev/alm-rate-data)

### Trust

- [Data coverage](https://rateapi.dev/data-coverage)
- [Rate methodology](https://rateapi.dev/methodology)
- [Eligibility methodology](https://rateapi.dev/eligibility-methodology)
- [Transparency](https://rateapi.dev/transparency)
- [Independence](https://rateapi.dev/independence)
- [Corrections](https://rateapi.dev/corrections)
- [Pricing](https://rateapi.dev/pricing)
- [About](https://rateapi.dev/about)
- [Contact](https://rateapi.dev/contact)
- Talk to a human

### Inspect the data behind the API

Public data explorer

- [Current mortgage rates](https://rateapi.dev/current-mortgage-rates)
- [Current auto rates](https://rateapi.dev/current-auto-loan-rates)
- [Current CD rates](https://rateapi.dev/current-cd-rates)
- [Current HELOC rates](https://rateapi.dev/current-heloc-rates)
- [Current personal loan rates](https://rateapi.dev/current-personal-loan-rates)
- [Mortgage rates](https://rateapi.dev/mortgage-rates)
- [Refinance rates](https://rateapi.dev/refinance-rates)
- [Auto loan rates](https://rateapi.dev/auto-loan-rates)
- [RV loan rates](https://rateapi.dev/rv-loan-rates)
- [Boat rates](https://rateapi.dev/boat-loan-rates)
- [Motorcycle rates](https://rateapi.dev/motorcycle-loan-rates)
- [HELOC rates](https://rateapi.dev/heloc-rates)
- [Personal loan rates](https://rateapi.dev/personal-loan-rates)
- [Credit card rates](https://rateapi.dev/credit-card-rates)
- [Deposit rates](https://rateapi.dev/deposit-rates)
- [CD rates](https://rateapi.dev/cd-rates)
- [Savings rates](https://rateapi.dev/savings-rates)
- [Money market rates](https://rateapi.dev/money-market-rates)
- [Credit union directory](https://rateapi.dev/credit-unions)
- [Who can join](https://rateapi.dev/who-can-join)
- [Mortgage benchmark](https://rateapi.dev/mortgage-rate-benchmark)
- [Auto benchmark](https://rateapi.dev/auto-loan-rate-benchmark)
- [HELOC benchmark](https://rateapi.dev/heloc-rate-benchmark)
- [Personal loan benchmark](https://rateapi.dev/personal-loan-rate-benchmark)
- [CD benchmark](https://rateapi.dev/cd-rate-benchmark)
- [Credit union rate index](https://rateapi.dev/credit-union-rate-index)
- [Deposit beta](https://rateapi.dev/deposit-beta)
- [Credit unions vs banks: mortgage](https://rateapi.dev/compare/credit-union-vs-bank-rates)
- [Credit unions vs banks: auto](https://rateapi.dev/compare/credit-union-vs-bank-auto-loan-rates)
- [Credit unions vs banks: HELOC](https://rateapi.dev/compare/credit-union-vs-bank-heloc-rates)
- [Credit unions vs banks: CD](https://rateapi.dev/compare/credit-union-vs-bank-cd-rates)
- [Mortgage rate API comparison](https://rateapi.dev/compare/mortgage-rate-apis)
- [Rate datasets](https://rateapi.dev/credit-union-rate-dataset)

© 2026 RateAPI · US credit unions only · Published pricing is not approval.

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---

Source: https://rateapi.dev/methodology/data-quality
Rate data API: https://api.rateapi.dev · OpenAPI: https://api.rateapi.dev/openapi.json · MCP: https://mcp.rateapi.dev/mcp