Bankrate

For the economic feature, see bank rate.
Bankrate, Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: RATE
Industry Internet
Founded 1976
Headquarters North Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Area served
 U.S., Canada, China
Key people
 Kenneth Esterow, President and CEO
Revenue Increase US $457.2 million (2012)[1]
Number of employees
 384[2]
Website Bankrate.com

Bankrate, Inc. is a consumer financial services company based in North Palm Beach, Florida, in the United States. Bankrate.com, perhaps its best known brand, is a personal finance website. Other operations include NetQuote.

History

Bankrate was founded in 1976 as a print publisher of the "Bank Rate Monitor."[2] In 1996, the company began moving its business online.[2] Today, Bankrate, Inc.'s online network includes Bankrate.com as well as CreditCards.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, InsuranceQuotes.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, AutoInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, Bankrate.com.cn, CreditCards.ca, NetQuote.com, and CD.com. The online network received over 150 million visits in 2010.[2] In January 2011, Bankrate completed the acquisition of Trouve Media. In December 2011, Bankrate completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of InsWeb Corporation for $65 million in cash.[3] And in March 2012, Bankrate acquired InsuranceAgents.com.[4]

After spending 10 years as a public company traded on the NASDAQ, Bankrate was acquired in 2009 by Apax Partners in a transaction valued at approximately $571 million.[5]

In June 2011, Bankrate raised a total of $300 million in gross proceeds with a successful Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange.[6] In December 2011, Bankrate priced a secondary offering of 12.5 million shares at $17.50 per share.[7]

Services

The New York Stock Exchange on June 17, 2011, when Bankrate's shares were listed.

Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 75 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 100 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe.[8] Bankrate's unique selling proposition is to provide consumers with accurate and objective information to help them make informed financial decisions. On the financial institutions' side, Bankrate generates highly qualified customer leads as a way to monetize the investments it makes in the content side.

One of Bankrates reports in 2014 determined the costs of car ownership in each state, taking into account the costs of gas and insurance, among other factors. The data suggested that Wyoming is the most expensive state in the nation to own a car.[9]

Honors

In October 2012, Advertising Age ranked Bankrate as the fifth fastest-growing media company.[10] Bankrate's "Financial Regulation, One Year Later" package earned a 2012 "Best in Business" award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW).[11] Bankrate won two SABEW Awards in 2011: Holden Lewis' mortgage blog and Bankrate's explanatory series on financial reform were honored.[12] Bankrate writers have won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists several times, most recently in 2007 for their coverage of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee's rate cut.[13] In 2008, Forbes named Bankrate #41 in its list of America's 200 Best Small Companies.[14] Forbes previously had honored the website in its "Best of the Web" series five times between 1999 and 2004.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Bankrate Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 Financial Results". Retrieved 2013-02-12.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 Registration Statement Under the Securities Act of 1933". Retrieved 2012-02-07.
  3. ↑ "Bankrate, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Insurance Lead Generation and Marketing Assets of InsWeb Corporation". Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  4. ↑ "Bankrate Buys Columbus Leads Generator InsuranceAgents.com". Retrieved 2012-05-11.
  5. ↑ "Bankrate, Inc. Agrees to be Acquired by Apax Partners for $28.50 Per Share in Cash" (Press release). Bankrate, Inc. July 22, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Bankrate, Inc. Celebrates Initial Public Offering and First Day of Trading on the New York Stock Exchange" (Press release). New York Stock Exchange. June 17, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Bankrate, Inc. Announces Pricing of Secondary Offering" (Press release). Bankrate, Inc. December 6, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Bankrate: Mortgage Rates Continue to Drop" (Press release). Bankrate, Inc. November 3, 2011.
  9. ↑ Chokshi, Niraj. "Map: The most expensive state to be a car owner is … Wyoming?". www.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "Your Guide to the Leading Media Companies 2012". SABEW. October 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  11. ↑ "Complete List of Winners in SABEW’s 17th Annual Best in Business Awards". SABEW. February 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  12. ↑ "202 Winners Announced for SABEW’s Annual Best in Business Contest". SABEW. March 18, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  13. ↑ "SPJ Announces the 2007 Sigma Delta Chi Award Winners" (Press release). Society of Professional Journalists. April 14, 2008. and "54th Annual Green Eyeshade Excellence in Journalism Award Winners" (Press release). April 12, 2004. and "1999 Sigma Delta Chi Award Honorees". Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  14. ↑ "#41 Bankrate". Forbes.com. Forbes Digital. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  15. ↑ "Award-winning content". Bankrate. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-28.

External links