Credit Sesame

CreditSesame.com
private
Industry Personal finance, Software
Founded 2010
Founder Adrian Nazari
Headquarters Mountain View, California
Area served
 United States
Products Rich Internet application
Revenue N/A
Number of employees
 N/A
Website CreditSesame.com

Credit Sesame is a web based freemium tool that helps consumers manage their credit and save money on their loans. It also provides consumers with a free credit score.[1] No credit card or subscription is required to register or obtain the credit score, which is updated monthly.[2] More frequent credit score updates and other features like identity monitoring are offered at a cost.[3]

Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Credit Sesame launched in private beta at TechCrunchDisrupt 2010.[4] As of September 2012, the company's registered users have a combined $35 billion of loans, which Credit Sesame monitors and analyzes for potential savings on a daily basis.[5]

Founder and Financing

Credit Sesame was founded by Adrian Nazari, the company's Chief Executive Officer, who previously co-founded Financial Crossing, Inc. and served as its President and CEO. He was also CEO and Chairman of the Board at Financial Circuit, Inc.[6]

In March 2011, Credit Sesame announced that it had closed a $6.15 million second round of funding, led by Menlo Ventures and Inventus Capital.[7] The company closed an additional $12 million in funding in June 2012.[8]

Bank-Level Analytics

Credit Sesame analyzes consumers' credit profiles based on the information in their TransUnion's credit reports. As soon as a consumer's profile is created, Credit Sesame begins analyzing their current loans (including mortgage and credit card accounts) and looks for alternative loans that will help that consumer save. This is accomplished by using a patent-pending bank-level analytics engine developed by Stanford University analysts, which analyzes the mortgage lending market daily for new financing options.[9]

The mortgage and refinance loans Credit Sesame finds for its users are personalized, based on each individual user's credit file, the estimated value of their home and the financial goals they have set up upon registration.

Because it lists all loans and credit in one place, pulled directly from the consumer's credit report, Credit Sesame provides a complete picture of that consumer's credit.[10]

Credit Sesame currently powers Mint.com's Home Loans tool.[11]

Free Credit Score

The free score consumers get from Credit Sesame is an Experian National Equivalency Score. The National Equivalency Score is not a FICO score, but unlike some free scores provided by online services, which are educational and often referred to as "FAKO" scores, it is actually commercially available to lenders although not many lenders use it to make lending decisions.[12] The range for the National Equivalency score is 360 to 840; the range for FICO scores is 300 to 850.

Free Identity Theft Insurance

In April of 2014, Credit Sesame announced that they would provide users with free identity theft insurance with up to $50,000 in coverage. This coverage only includes expenses that are incurred in restoring a consumers identity and not expenses that result from an identity being stolen.

In addition, Credit sesame also announced that users who had their identity stolen would also be able to access "...to identity restoration specialists"[13] to help in the process of restoring their identity.

Business Model

Credit Sesame is free to consumers. The company makes money when a consumer closes on a loan obtained with the help of Credit Sesame. In March, 2014 the company launched premium services that included more frequent credit score updates than that offered with the free account and identity protection features.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Andriotis, Annamaria. "New Controversy for Credit Scores". SmartMoney.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Ulzheimer, John. "Free Credit Scores (Seriously, They’re Really Free)". Mint.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Credit Sesame - Premium Service". Retrieved 4 July 2014."Credit Sesame Launches Premium Services to Better Protect People’s Credit and Identity". Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Rao, Leena. "The List Of Startups Launching At TechCrunch Disrupt". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  5. ↑ Perez, Sarah. "Credit Sesame Adds Social Comparison Tools, Lets You See How Your Debt Compares With People Like You". Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. ↑ "EXECUTIVE PROFILE Adrian A. Nazari". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  7. ↑ McDermid, Riley. "Personal finance tool CreditSesame nabs $6.15M in new funding". VentureBeat.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  8. ↑ Perez, Sarah. "With $20 Billion In Consumer Debt Under Management, Credit Sesame Closes $12 Million Series C". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  9. ↑ McDermid, Riley. "Credit Sesame brings consolidation tools to consumers free, online and all in one place". VentureBeat.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  10. ↑ Chatzky, Jean. "Make Even More Money". More Magazine. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  11. ↑ "Get a home loan or refinance at a great rate". Mint.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Ulzheimer, John. "Free Credit Scores (Seriously, They’re Really Free)". Mint.com. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "Identity Theft Protection". Retrieved 15 April 2014.