Credit Karma

Credit Karma is an American multinational personal finance company founded in 2007, which has been a brand of Intuit since December 2020.[3] It is best known as a free credit and financial management platform, but its features also include monitoring of unclaimed property databases and a tool to identify and dispute credit report errors.[4] The company operates in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.[3]

Credit Karma, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryPersonal finance, Software, Financial technology
FoundedMarch 8, 2007 (2007-03-08)
Founders
HeadquartersOakland, California, U.S.
Products
Revenue$500 million (2017, estimated)[1]
Number of employees
1,500[2]
ParentIntuit
WebsiteCreditKarma.com

All of Credit Karma's services are free to consumers.[5] 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.[6]

History

Kenneth Lin, who previously founded Multilytics Marketing and worked with E-Loan and Upromise,[7] launched Credit Karma in 2007[8] with co-founders Ryan Graciano and Nichole Mustard.[9] The website went live in February 2008.[10] Early investors included Chris Larson, CEO of Prosper, and Mark Lefanowicz, former president of E-Loan.[11]

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.[10] In 2013, Credit Karma secured $30 million in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital and Susquehanna Growth Equity.[12]

In March 2014, Credit Karma raised $85 million in Series C financing, led by CapitalG with participation from Tiger Global Management and existing investors.[13] The company followed that with $75 million in follow on funding in September 2014 from CapitalG, Tiger Global Management and Susquehanna Growth Equity.[14]

In December 2015, Credit Karma acquired mobile notifications app developer Snowball for an undisclosed amount.[15] As of 2015, Credit Karma had raised $368.5 million in financing, at a valuation of $3.5 billion.[16]

In 2016, Credit Karma acquired money reclamation service Claimdog.[17] In December 2016, Credit Karma acquired AFJC Corporation, owner of OnePriceTaxes.com, to accelerate its entry into the tax preparation market.[18][19] Related to the launch of tax preparation services, the company increased its workforce and opened offices in Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina.[18]

In May 2017, Credit Karma launched Unclaimed Money in seven US states. The product aims to help users find unclaimed money, such as unclaimed refunds and insurance payouts.[17]

In March 2018, Credit Karma acquired personal finance company Penny for an undisclosed amount.[20] In August, it acquired mortgage platform Approved for an undisclosed amount.[21]

In May 2019, the customers of the Noddle credit reporting service in the United Kingdom were acquired from TransUnion.[22]

In December 2020, Intuit acquired Credit Karma for approximately $7.1 billion. The acquisition was initially delayed due to a DOJ antitrust lawsuit but it was finally approved after the company agreed to divest its free tax preparation service, known as Credit Karma Tax, which was a direct competitor to Intuit's TurboTax product.[23][24]

That same month, Credit Karma announced that it was moving its headquarters across San Francisco Bay from San Francisco to Oakland.[25]

In August 2021, Credit Karma reached an agreement with NBA franchise Houston Rockets to have the company's name appear on the team's jersey's beginning in the 2021 season.[26]

In September 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered Credit Karma to pay its users $3 million for "false claims" that impacted their credit scores.[27] Nearly one-thirds of pre-approved users who applied for credit cards were eventually denied following a credit check, costing their time and a negative impact to their credit score. Credit Karma reached a settlement with the FTC, and stated that the company is paid only when users are approved for products like credit cards.[27]

Products and services

Credit Karma provides free credit scores and credit reports in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom from national credit bureaus TransUnion and Equifax, alongside daily credit monitoring from TransUnion.

Credit Karma also provides identity theft protection and credit tools, such as a Credit Score Simulator which simulates the effect of potential financial actions on a user's credit score;[28] and tailored recommendations for credit cards and personal loans.

Credit Karma Tax, its free United States tax filing service, was announced in December 2016.[29] Credit Karma Tax does not participate in the Free File Alliance,[30] and so is not bound by its requirements to restrict eligibility for free filing.[31] The company's primary competitors in this area are TaxAct, TurboTax and H&R Block.[32] In November 2020, Square, Inc. announced it was acquiring Credit Karma Tax for $50 million and would make it a part of its Cash App unit.[33]

See also

References
  1. "Credit Karma touts $500 million in revenues". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  2. Goldberg, Emma (August 28, 2022). "The Office's Last Stand". The New York Times.
  3. "Credit Karma". Forbes. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  4. Popper, Nathaniel (December 7, 2016). "Automated Assistants Will Soon Make a Bid for Your Finances". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  5. Vance, Ashlee (July 30, 2014). "A Free Credit Report With No Strings Attached. Honest". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  6. "How it Works". Credit Karma. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016. If you get a product through one of our recommendations, the bank or lender pays us.
  7. ""Kenneth Lin", LinkedIn".
  8. "CREDIT KARMA, INC. :: OpenCorporates". opencorporates.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  9. "About Credit Karma". Credit Karma. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  10. Kincaid, Jason (November 4, 2009). "Credit Karma Raises $2.5 Million To Take The Mystery Out Of Credit Scores". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  11. Levinson, Rick (June 9, 2009). "Credit Karma Introduces Free Credit-Card, Debt-Tracking Tool". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  12. "Credit Karma Secures $30 Million In Series B Funding". Credit Karma. April 2, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  13. Shieber, Jonathan (March 12, 2014). "Credit Karma Confirms New $85M Financing Round Led By Google Capital". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  14. Perez, Sarah. "Free Consumer Credit Monitoring Company Credit Karma Raises $75M, Now Valued At Over $1 Billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  15. "Credit Karma Acquires Innovative Mobile Notifications Startup Snowball". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  16. Sharf, Samantha. "Credit Karma Raises $175 Million At $3.5 Billion Valuation". Forbes. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  17. "Credit Karma now helps users find unclaimed cash". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  18. Calvey, Mark (June 27, 2017). "Why Credit Karma loves taxes". San Francisco Business Times. American City Business Journals. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  19. Rudegeair, Peter (December 7, 2016). "Credit Karma Hopes to Score on Tax Preparation". WSJ. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  20. "Credit Karma has acquired an instant message bot, Penny, that helps people track their spending". Recode. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  21. "Credit Karma acquires mortgage platform Approved". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  22. "Credit score firm Noddle tries to rival Experian". Which? News. May 7, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  23. Ponciano, Jonathan. "DOJ Forces Credit Karma To Sell Tax Unit To Square To Clear $7.1 Billion Takeover By Intuit". Forbes. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  24. "Justice Department Requires Divestiture of Credit Karma Tax for Intuit to Proceed with Acquisition of Credit Karma". The United States Department of Justice. November 25, 2020.
  25. Avalos, George (December 14, 2020). "Credit Karma will exit San Francisco and shift HQ to downtown Oakland". The Mercury News. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  26. Shelby Stewart, "Houston Rockets Join Forces with Credit Karma Money," Houstonia, August 3, 2021.
  27. Jones, Dustin (September 6, 2022). "Credit Karma will pay $3 million to users targeted with false preapproved offers". NPR.
  28. Kim, Jane J. (October 8, 2009). "Credit Scores: Can You Get Them Free?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  29. "Credit Karma's Lin: The Goal Is To Make Financial Services Frictionless". CB Insights - Blog. June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  30. Paul Kiel, Justin Elliott (February 28, 2020). "TurboTax's Bid to Buy Free Tax Prep Competitor Might Violate Antitrust Law, Experts Say". ProPublica. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  31. Justin Elliott, Paul Kiel (October 17, 2019). "Inside TurboTax's 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free". ProPublica. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  32. Lawler, Ryan (June 27, 2017). "Credit Karma touts $500 million in revenues". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  33. Weil, Dan (November 25, 2020). "Square to Buy Credit Karma Tax for $50 Million, Expanding Reach". TheStreet. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
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