Credit Karma

Credit Karma is an American multinational personal finance company founded in 2007, which has been a brand of Intuit since December 2020. 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 and a tool to identify and dispute credit report errors.[3] The company operates in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Credit Karma, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryPersonal finance, Software, Financial technology
FoundedMarch 8, 2007 (2007-03-08)
Founders
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Key people
Products
RevenueUS$370 million (2015), over US$500 million (2016)[1]
Number of employees
700[2]
ParentIntuit
Websitewww.creditkarma.com

All of Credit Karma’s services are free to consumers.[4] 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.[5]

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.

Credit Karma also provides tax filling,[1] loans, credit card, 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;[6] and tailored financial recommendations based on each user's credit profile.

Credit Karma Tax, its free tax filing service, was announced in December 2016.[7] Credit Karma Tax does not participate in the Free File Alliance,[8] and so is not bound by its requirements to restrict eligibility for free filing.[9] The company's primary competitors in this area are TaxAct, TurboTax and H&R Block.[2] 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.[10]

On May 9, 2017, Credit Karma launched Unclaimed Money in seven states. The product aims to help users find unclaimed money, such as unclaimed refunds and insurance payouts.[11]

Acquisitions and expansion

On December 30, 2015, Credit Karma acquired mobile notifications app developer Snowball for an undisclosed amount.[12]

On December 7, 2016, Credit Karma acquired AFJC Corporation, owner of OnePriceTaxes.com, to accelerate its entry into the tax preparation market.[1][13] Related to the launch of tax preparation services, the company also increased its workforce and opened offices in Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina.[1]

In 2016, Credit Karma acquired money reclamation service Claimdog.[14]

On March 14, 2018, Credit Karma acquired personal finance company Penny for an undisclosed amount.[15]

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

In May 2019, the customers of the Noddle credit reporting service in the United Kingdom were acquired from TransUnion.[17]

Financial history

Kenneth Lin, who previously founded Multilytics Marketing and worked with E-Loan and Upromise,[18] launched Credit Karma in 2007[19] with co-founders Ryan Graciano and Nichole Mustard.[20] The website went live in February 2008.[21] Early investors included Chris Larson, CEO of Prosper, and Mark Lefanowicz, former president of E-Loan.[22]

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.[23] In 2013, Credit Karma secured $30 million in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital and Susquehanna Growth Equity.[24] In March 2014, Credit Karma raised $85 million in Series C financing, led by CapitalG with participation from Tiger Global Management and existing investors.[25] The company followed that with $75 million in follow on funding in September 2014 from CapitalG, Tiger Global Management and Susquehanna Growth Equity.[26]

As of 2015, Credit Karma had raised $368.5 million in financing, at a valuation of $3.5 billion.[27]

In December 2020, Intuit acquired Credit Karma for, according to an Intuit press release, "a total consideration of approximately $3.4 billion in cash and 13.3 million shares of Intuit stock and equity awards with a value of $4.7 billion".[28]

See also

References
  1. Calvey, Mark (June 27, 2017). "Why Credit Karma loves taxes". San Francisco Business Times. American City Business Journals. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  2. Lawler, Ryan (June 27, 2017). "Credit Karma touts $500 million in revenues". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  3. 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.
  4. Vance, Ashlee (July 30, 2014). "A Free Credit Report With No Strings Attached. Honest". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  5. "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.
  6. Kim, Jane J. (October 8, 2009). "Credit Scores: Can You Get Them Free?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  7. "Credit Karma's Lin: The Goal Is To Make Financial Services Frictionless". CB Insights - Blog. June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. Lawler, Ryan. "Credit Karma now helps users find unclaimed cash". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  12. "Credit Karma Acquires Innovative Mobile Notifications Startup Snowball". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  13. Rudegeair, Peter (December 7, 2016). "Credit Karma Hopes to Score on Tax Preparation". WSJ. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  14. "Credit Karma now helps users find unclaimed cash". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  15. "Credit Karma has acquired an instant message bot, Penny, that helps people track their spending". Recode. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  16. "Credit Karma acquires mortgage platform Approved". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  17. "Credit score firm Noddle tries to rival Experian". Which? News. May 7, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  18. ""Kenneth Lin", LinkedIn".
  19. "CREDIT KARMA, INC. :: OpenCorporates". opencorporates.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  20. "About Credit Karma". Credit Karma. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  21. Kincaid, Jason (November 4, 2009). "Credit Karma Raises $2.5 Million To Take The Mystery Out Of Credit Scores". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  22. Levinson, Rick (June 9, 2009). "Credit Karma Introduces Free Credit-Card, Debt-Tracking Tool". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  23. 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 January 12, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  24. "Credit Karma Secures $30 Million In Series B Funding". Credit Karma. April 2, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  25. Shieber, Jonathan (March 12, 2014). "Credit Karma Confirms New $85M Financing Round Led By Google Capital". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  26. Perez, Sarah. "Free Consumer Credit Monitoring Company Credit Karma Raises $75M, Now Valued At Over $1 Billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  27. Sharf, Samantha. "Credit Karma Raises $175 Million At $3.5 Billion Valuation". Forbes. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  28. "Intuit Completes Acquisition of Credit Karma". investors.intuit.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
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