BillGuard explained

BillGuard
Type:Private
Location City:New York City
Location Country:United States
Products:Rich web application, Mobile application
Foundation:2010
Founder:Yaron Samid (CEO), Raphael Ouzan (CTO) [1]
Industry:Computer software, Internet, Personal finance

BillGuard was a personal finance security and productivity company. Its mobile and website application scans credit card and debit card transactions, alerting users to possible scams, billing errors, fraudulent charges, and hidden fees.[2] [3]

As of October 2014, BillGuard reports it has flagged over $60 million of suspect charges on behalf of its users, drawing from over $1 billion of monitored transactions.[4] [5] [6]

In September 2015, BillGuard was acquired by Prosper Marketplace.[7] [8] BillGuard was renamed Prosper Daily.

On August 31, 2017, Prosper ended Prosper Daily service, suggesting as an

alternative the Clarity Money app "which offers many of the same features as Prosper Daily."[9]

BillGuard was named "one of the top online banking innovations of all time" by MarketConsensus.[10] and a “Top 10 Tech Company” by American Banker.[11]

BillGuard is also ranked as the "Top 2015 Most Powerful Financial Protection App" by AdvisoryHQ News.[12]

Products

In July 2013, BillGuard released a free iPhone app that encouraged users to take a more active role in monitoring their charges than the company's previous ‘set and forget’ web application.[13] [14] In May 2014, BillGuard released a free Android app.[15]

BillGuard sent personalized data breach alerts that notified users if they've shopped at a merchant who has been breached.[16]

BillGuard drew upon a combination of crowdsourced feedback from its users, data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, complaints posted across the Internet, and its own algorithms to determine what charges to bring to users’ attention via email and smartphone push alerts.[17] [18]

BillGuard Resolve directly connected merchants with customers who wish to inquire about the merchants’ charges on their cards.[19] BillGuard FI for financial institutions aimed to lower those institutions’ transaction inquiry and dispute processing costs.[20]

History

The company was founded in 2010 by Yaron Samid (CEO) and Raphael Ouzan (CTO), with $3 million in seed funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Founder Collective, SV Angel, IA Ventures, Social Leverage and Yaron Galai.[21]

BillGuard launched at TechCrunch Disrupt New York in May 2011, where it won the 2nd place prize.[22] In 2011 the company raised a $10 million financing round from its seed funders plus Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors.[23] BillGuard was awarded the "2011 Big-Data Startup of the Year" at the O'Reilly Media Strata Conference,[24] and won ‘Best of Show’ at the Finovate conference in both 2011 and 2012.[25]

The Jerusalem Post writer Joseph Sherman notes: "Business Schools around the world study how the Rothschild family transformed the world of international banking. In a practical spin on the story, today, on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Raphael Ouzan is living his dream in Israel as the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of a start-up that is changing how consumers monitor their credit and debit card spending, and helping us get our money back from unwanted and deceptive charges."[26]

Grey Charges Report

In July 2013, BillGuard and the Aite Group released a comprehensive Grey Charges report that found in 2012 U.S. cardholders received over $14.3 billion in deceptive and unwanted credit and debit card charges.[27] According to the report, one in three American card holders receives at least one grey charge each year, at an average of $215 per person per year.[28] [29] [30] [31]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Raphael Ouzan interview on Startup Camel Podcast. 28 February 2015. Startup Camel. https://web.archive.org/web/20150320232832/http://startupcamel.com/ep-63-raphael-ouzan-billguard/. 20 March 2015. dead.
  2. News: Personal-Finance Security Firm Raises $10 Million. The Wall Street Journal.
  3. News: BillGuard (iPhone). PCMag . Kathy. Yakal.
  4. News: Analytics Startup BillGuard Has Flagged $50M in Suspect Charges. American Banker.
  5. Web site: BillGuard Launches iPhone App To Help Credit Card Users Catch And Dispute "Grey Charges". 25 July 2013 . TechCrunch.
  6. Web site: BillGuard now helps Brits, Aussies and New Zealanders combat credit card fraud and hidden merchant fees. 19 June 2014.
  7. News: Israeli Startup BillGuard Bought for Reported $40m. Inbal. Orpaz.
  8. Web site: Ranking. 27 September 2016.
  9. Web site: Prosper Daily. www.prosper.com. 2018-09-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20180928021131/https://www.prosper.com/daily. 2018-09-28. dead.
  10. Web site: BillGuard – One of the Top Banking Innovations of all Time. MarketConsensus. 2015-06-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20150620233452/http://www.marketconsensus.com/news/billguard-one-top-banking-innovations-all-time/. 2015-06-20. dead.
  11. Web site: Top 10 Tech Companies to Watch. 3 December 2012 . American Banker.
  12. Web site: BillGuard Review & Ranking (Is BillGuard Safe?). AdvisoryHQ.
  13. Web site: BillGuard Launches iPhone App To Help Credit Card Users Catch And Dispute "Grey Charges". Lawler. Ryan. July 25, 2013.
  14. Web site: BillGuard app manage your spending easily. theappzine.com, Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  15. Web site: BillGuard Launches Its Personal Finance App On Android And Adds Data Breach Alerts. May 15, 2014.
  16. Web site: BillGuard Alerts You When a Retailer or Bank You Use Is Breached. May 15, 2014.
  17. Web site: Top 10 Tech Companies to Watch.
  18. Web site: Personal Finance Security Start-up Closes $10 Million Round.
  19. Web site: BillGuard®; BillGuard Resolve™ for Merchants . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140214093815/https://www.billguard.com/merchants . 14 February 2014.
  20. Web site: BillGuard® BillGuard FI™ for banks . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140214083938/https://www.billguard.com/fi . 14 February 2014.
  21. News: BillGuard Raises $3M To Track Hidden Fees, Billing Errors On Credit Card Bills. Rao. Leena. TechCrunch. 2018-01-26. en.
  22. News: And The Winner Of TechCrunch Disrupt NYC Is…Getaround!. Rao. Leena. TechCrunch. 2017-11-29. en.
  23. News: BillGuard Gets $10M From Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Innovation Endeavors, Others - PE Hub. 2011-10-18. PE Hub. 2017-11-29. en-US.
  24. Web site: Strata Startup Showcase: Strata 2011 - O'Reilly Conferences, February 01 - 03, 2011, Santa Clara, CA. conferences.oreilly.com. 2017-11-29.
  25. News: FinovateFall 2011 Best of Show Winners Named - Finovate. 2011-09-21. Finovate. 2017-11-29. en-US.
  26. News: Sherman. Joseph J. High-Tech Aliya: A start-up immigrant shares secrets to success. 29 July 2014. The Jerusalem Post. 2013-07-30. Business Schools around the world study how the Rothschild family transformed the world of international banking. In a practical spin on the story, today, on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Raphael Ouzan is living his dream in Israel as the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of a start-up that is changing how consumers monitor their credit and debit card spending, and helping us get our money back from unwanted and deceptive charges..
  27. Web site: The Economic Impact of Grey Charges on Debit and Credit Cardholders and Issuers. 2013. Aite Group.
  28. News: YOUR MONEY-How to avoid 'gray charges' on credit card bills . Reuters . Mitch . Lipka . July 26, 2013 . June 30, 2017 . September 24, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924183341/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/26/credit-graycharges-advice-idUSL1N0FV1TI20130726?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563 . live .
  29. News: Are 'gray charges' draining your wallet? . Fox News . July 26, 2013.
  30. News: Consumers rack up $14.3 billion in 'gray' charges . USA Today . Hadley . Malcolm . July 25, 2013.
  31. Web site: Six ways merchants fill your credit card with unwanted 'gray charges' . . 7 December 2012 .

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