Credit Karma

Credit Karma, Inc.
Private
Industry Personal finance, Software, Financial technology
Founded March 8, 2007 (2007-03-08)[1]
Headquarters San Francisco, California
Key people
 Kenneth Lin (Founder and CEO), Ryan Graciano (CTO and Co-Founder), Nichole Mustard (CRO and Co-Founder)
Products Credit scores, credit reports, credit monitoring, tax preparation
Revenue $370 million (2015), Over $500 million (2016)[2]
Number of employees
 700[3]
Website creditkarma.com

Credit Karma is an American multinational personal finance company, founded on August 16, 2006,[4] by Kenneth Lin, Ryan Graciano and Nichole Mustard.[5] It is best known as a free credit and financial management platform, but its features also include free tax preparation, monitoring of unclaimed property databases[6] and a tool to identify and dispute credit report errors.[7]

All of Credit Karma’s services are free to consumers.[8] Revenue from targeted advertisements for financial products offsets the costs of its free products and services. Credit Karma earns revenue from lenders, who pay the company when Credit Karma successfully recommends customers to the lenders.[9]

Products and services

Credit Karma provides free credit scores and credit reports from national credit bureaus TransUnion and Equifax, alongside daily credit monitoring from TransUnion.[10] Users can see updates to their credit scores and credit reports on Credit Karma once a week.[11]

Credit Karma also provides credit tools, such as a Credit Score Simulator, which simulates the effect of potential financial actions on a user's credit score;[12] and tailored financial recommendations based on each individual user's credit profile.

In addition to its free credit reports and tools, Credit Karma offers a My Spending Tool through account aggregation service Yodlee, which allows users to track their banking, credit card and loan balances and transactions within Credit Karma. Credit Karma also hosts user forums and financial product reviews and financial calculator tools.

In 2015, Credit Karma began its "My Money Story" campaign, in which the company encouraged customers to share their experiences on often taboo financial matters openly with the world using the social media hashtag "#MyMoneyStory". The company produced several short films about individuals and their personal financial experiences.[13]

In December 2016, Credit Karma announced Credit Karma Tax, its tax preparation online service that allows most Americans to file their federal and state taxes at no cost.[14] On June 28, 2017, the company announced it filed 1 million tax returns in its debut tax season in six months.[15]

On May 9, 2017, Credit Karma launched Unclaimed Money in seven states. The product that helps users find unclaimed money, such as unclaimed refunds and insurance payouts.[16]

Acquisitions

2018

On March 14, 2018, Credit Karma acquired personal finance company Penny for an undisclosed amount.[17]

On August 16, 2018, Credit Karma acquired mortgage platform Approved for an undisclosed amount.[18]

2016

On December 7, 2016, Credit Karma acquired AFJC Corporation, owner of OnePriceTaxes.com.[19]

In 2016, Credit Karma acquired money reclamation service Claimdog.[20]

2015

On December 30, 2015, Credit Karma acquired mobile notifications app developer Snowball for an undisclosed amount.[21]

Founder and investors

Kenneth Lin, who previously founded Multilytics Marketing and worked with E-Loan and Upromise,[22] launched Credit Karma in 2007, with the website going live in February 2008.[23] Early investors include Chris Larson, CEO of Prosper, and Mark Lefanowicz, former president of E-Loan.[24]

In November 2009, Credit Karma closed a $2.5 million Series A funding round led by QED Investors with participation from SV Angel, Felicis Ventures and Founders Fund.[25] In 2013, Credit Karma secured $30 million in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital and Susquehanna Growth Equity.[26] In March 2014, Credit Karma raised $85 million in Series C financing, led by Google Capital with participation from Tiger Global Management and existing investors.[27] The company followed that with $75 million in follow on funding in September 2014 from Google Capital, Tiger Global Management and Susquehanna Growth Equity.[28]

As of 2015, Credit Karma has raised $368.5 million in financing, at a valuation of $3.5 billion.[29]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Credit Karma". CrunchBase. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Why Credit Karma loves taxes". Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Credit Karma touts $500 million in revenues". Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Credit Karma | crunchbase". www.crunchbase.com. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  5. ↑ "About Credit Karma | Credit Karma". www.creditkarma.com. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  6. ↑ Lawler, Ryan. "Credit Karma now helps users find unclaimed cash". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  7. ↑ Popper, Nathaniel (2016-12-07). "Automated Assistants Will Soon Make a Bid for Your Finances". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  8. ↑ Vance, Ashlee (2014-07-30). "A Free Credit Report With No Strings Attached. Honest". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  9. ↑ "How it Works". Credit Karma. Archived from the original on 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2016-09-21. If you get a product through one of our recommendations, the bank or lender pays us.
  10. ↑ Basia, Hellwig (2015-02-02). "Why Credit Karma Is Free & How It Makes Money". Investopedia. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  11. ↑ Free score providers | VantageScore Solutions
  12. ↑ Kim, Jane J. (2009-10-08). "Credit Scores: Can You Get Them Free?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  13. ↑ "My Money Story Series: Credit Karma Talks Finances, Credit and Debt | Webinar Recap". Kabbage. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  14. ↑ Lin, Kenneth. "A Holiday Gift from Credit Karma: Don't Pay for Filing Your Taxes Ever Again". Credit Karma. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  15. ↑ "Credit Karma's Lin: The Goal Is To Make Financial Services Frictionless". CB Insights - Blog. 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  16. ↑ Lawler, Ryan. "Credit Karma now helps users find unclaimed cash". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  17. ↑ "Credit Karma has acquired an instant message bot, Penny, that helps people track their spending". Recode. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  18. ↑ "Credit Karma acquires mortgage platform Approved". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  19. ↑ Rudegeair, Peter (2016-12-07). "Credit Karma Hopes to Score on Tax Preparation". WSJ. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  20. ↑ "Credit Karma now helps users find unclaimed cash". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  21. ↑ "Credit Karma Acquires Innovative Mobile Notifications Startup Snowball". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  22. ↑ ""Kenneth Lin", LinkedIn".
  23. ↑ Kincaid, Jason (2009-11-04). "Credit Karma Raises $2.5 Million To Take The Mystery Out Of Credit Scores". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  24. ↑ Levinson, Rick (2009-06-09). "Credit Karma Introduces Free Credit-Card, Debt-Tracking Tool". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  25. ↑ Kincaid, Jason (2009-11-04). "Credit Karma Raises $2.5 Million To Take The Mystery Out Of Credit Scores". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  26. ↑ "Credit Karma Secures $30 Million In Series B Funding". Credit Karma. 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  27. ↑ Shieber, Jonathan (2014-03-12). "Credit Karma Confirms New $85M Financing Round Led By Google Capital". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  28. ↑ Perez, Sarah. "Free Consumer Credit Monitoring Company Credit Karma Raises $75M, Now Valued At Over $1 Billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  29. ↑ Sharf, Samantha. "Credit Karma Raises $175 Million At $3.5 Billion Valuation". Forbes. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
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