billguard
billguard on abc news 7 in san franciscoget the billguard app: android - urltoken ipho ...
billguard vs. mint: mint is not a financial protection app. billguard (prosper daily) is .
billguard on cnbc' s power pitchget the billguard app: android - urltoken iphone - http ...
billguard on the today showjanuary 8, 2015 get the billguard app: android - urltoken i ...
in his first visit to israel after buying billguard, prosper ceo aaron vermut says billguard staff wi ...
mint vs. billguard: mint is not designed to be an id protection app. billguard (prosper daily) is .
billguard' s founder, raphael ouzan, currently has an approval rating of 61% . billguard' s primary competitors are
mint vs. billguard: billguard (prosper daily) is a personal finance security company, while mint is a personal finance company .
to satisfy some of these questions about the billguard app, particularly when considering billguard vs. mint, we began by reviewing as much informational content as we could find on billguard (prosper daily) .
mint vs. billguard: mint is designed to be an all - inclusive personal finance app. billguard (prosper daily) is not .
billguard - billguard was a personal finance analytics app that empowered consumers to control, protect and do more with their money. | startup ranking
owler has collected 15 screenshots of billguard' s website since oct 2012. the latest billguard website design screenshot was captured in aug 2017 .
despite the high levels of security that billguard reviews applaud the billguard app for, there is no personal finance software that is 100% safe .
a billguard review in forbes magazine reports that, in four years, billguard' s expense tracking software helped identify over $ 70 million in unauthorized charges .
billguard vs. mint: mint is not designed to alert you whenever there are suspicious activities on your credit card. billguard (prosper daily) is .
billguard currently has 32 followers on twitter. as of july 2013 billguard had 2, 198 followers. that' s a 98 percent decrease in 4 years
since billguard was founded in 2009, it has participated in 3 rounds of funding. in total billguard has raised $ 16. 9m. billguard' s last funding round was on sep 2014 for a total of $ 3. 9m
billguard currently has 4, 908 fans on facebook. as of july 2013 billguard had 1, 934 fans. that' s a 153 percent increase in 1year
billguard is a personal finance security platform that enables users to track and monitor their spending across credit and debit card transactions. billguard' s headquarters is in san francisco, california. raphael ouzan is the founder of billguard. billguard' s latest funding round was a crowdfunding for $ 3. 9m on sep 2014. billguard' s main competitors are mint software, personal capital and credit karma. as of december 2014, billguard has 4. 9k fans on facebook and 32 followers on twitter .
help! i can' t add my account. billguard faq & support center: http: / / help. billguard. com. get the billg ...
credit karma is billguard' s # 3 rival. credit karma is headquartered in san francisco, california, and was founded in 2007. like billguard, credit karma also competes in the internet software industry. credit karma generates 228% the revenue of billguard .
billguard started as a piece of financial planning software to offer expense tracking and credit monitoring services. in 2015, billguard announced that it would soon be acquired by prosper marketplace .
with the acquisition of billguard and the rebranding of billguard app, prosper marketplace is making huge waves. the prosper daily app is the first of its kind for prosper marketplace .
as the billguard app has merged to become the prosper daily app, there seems to be one important change. in the past, billguard was a free expense tracking app .
( prosper daily) billguard vs. mint | 2017 comparison | budget software reviews & competition
, billguard is starting to go truly global with its first launch outside of north america .
yes, from today, consumers in the uk, australia and new zealand can use billguard too. if you’re new to billguard, here’s a quick recap of how it works .
for its part, billguard seems nothing short of ecstatic to become a part of prosper .
our core mission is to use data to save people money. — billguard ceo yaron samid
billguard is a crowdsourced intelligence platform that actively tracks spending and generates grey charge alerts by listening to what millions of people are saying about credit and debit card charges nationwide. billguard users sh
the deal is mostly in cash, with some stock included as retention incentives for billguard’s staff .
billguard posted a video
help! i can' t add my account .
on youtube
enter billguard, who forevermore shall be known as the fairy godmother of personal finance. billguard watches over you, warns you of trouble, and gently encourages you to make the right choices .
( prosper daily) billguard vs. mint | 2017 comparison | budget software reviews & competition – advisoryhq
in 2016, billguard was advisoryhq' s highest ranked “most powerful financial protection and monitoring app of the year. ” this isn' t surprising, since billguard has been a superior personal finance software .
billguard, a personal finance analytics application and a subsidiary of prosper marketplace, on tuesd ...
billguard and experian unveil partnership for identity protection at money2020, 2014on november 4, ex ...
in other words, all problematic charges or complaints go into the billguard server and every user who has an account at billguard gets an update about the problem if it is relevant to the user’s purchasing history .
billguard reviews show that the billguard app is an easy - to - use monitoring app that provides a tremendous amount of value by helping you to quickly detect and minimize fraudulent transactions on your credit or debit cards .
( the paypers) marketplace lender prosper has acquired personal finance app billguard for usd 30 milli ...
back in september we announced that billguard would be acquired by prosper marketplace. if the courts ...
while billguard has certainly seen its own success, the billguard app has recently been acquired and rebranded as the prosper daily app. as a part of prosper marketplace, how will it compete with leading financial planning software like
because the merger is still new, there are plenty of people who are asking questions about the billguard app and looking for billguard reviews, without knowing that this personal finance software is now a part of prosper daily .
while the billguard app has been rebranded with the merger, the functionality remains the same: as prosper daily, the billguard app continues to offer budget software, expense tracking, credit monitoring, and alerts for potential fraud .
over all, according to prosper, billguard customers on average use the service two to three times a week .
billguard was a personal finance analytics app that empowered consumers to control, protect and do more with their money .
note: billguard is currently only available for ios, but plans are in the works for an android version .
we reviewed what consumers were saying about the billguard app on major review and download platforms like itunes and google play .
in essence, billguard (prosper daily) is designed to protect and alert, while mint is designed to manage .
still, if you’re at all wary of handing your bank details over, you’re best not using billguard at all .
billguard is a service for tracking your spending and monitoring your credit, and an android app is a ...
as prosper daily, we couldn' t find any specific information on the app' s security features. it' s safe to assume that the billguard app would retain its original security, which is what we will be using in this billguard review. based on previous data, the billguard app (prosper daily app) is certainly safe to use .
personal capital is billguard' s # 2 competitor. personal capital was founded in 2009, and its headquarters is in san carlos, california. personal capital competes in the application software industry. personal capital has 172 more employees than billguard .
while the billguard app (prosper daily app) offers both free and paid versions, the mint app is completely free .
choosing between the prosper daily app (billguard app) or the mint app will inevitably come down to personal financial goals .
you can download billguard for ios and android now, in the us, canada, uk, australia and new zealand .
the prosper daily app will offer billguard’s budgeting and spending tracking services, alerts for potential fraudulent charges, and credit monitoring .
billguard has employees and is the last highest among it' s top 10 competitors. the top 10 competitors average 894 .
san francisco - - (business wire) - - billguard, a personal finance analytics application and a subsidiary ...
billguard is one of the best ways for you to track your spending costs, and protect your cards from fraud and errors .
integrating billguard into a bank' s online and mobile banking is as easy as adding a snippet of javascript, samid adds .
back in september, peer - to - peer (p2p) lending platfrom prosper marketplace acquired billguard, a crow ...
all joking aside, billguard truly is groundbreaking. the company has been around for the past few years, but for those who aren’t familiar, billguard is essentially antivirus for bills. basically, the app scans a user’s credit and debit card statements daily looking for erroneous or deceptive charges. if any erroneous charges are found, the user is notified and billguard helps get their money back. billguard uses crowd - sourced big data analytics to acquire collective knowledge about millions of consumer’s billing complaints to merchants and their banks .
mint software is seen as one of billguard' s top competitors. mint software was founded in mountain view, california } in 2006. mint software is in the internet software industry. compared to billguard, mint software generates $ 1. 7m more revenue .
even if you don’t recognize a charge on your statement, you can easily get details through billguard' s community - edited information .
as such, when comparing billguard vs. mint, we will really be talking about the prosper daily app vs. the mint app .
the billguard app (prosper daily app) provides real - time displays of your credit / debit card charges as soon as they occur .
billguard (prosper daily) makes it very easy for you to verify a charge or flag new charges on your credit and debit cards .
additionally, once your card is on file, billguard will scan that account daily and email you if it finds any questionable charges. you can also set up notifications to have billguard email you about suspicious charges, new recurring payments and data breaches that might affect your accounts .
billguard' s revenue is the fourth highest among it' s top 10 competitors. the top 10 competitors average $ 189. 9m .
as with the u. s. version, billguard remains free to use in these new countries, too. in a past life billguard charged a subscription fee for multiple card tracking, but now it' s totally free and totally unlimited. if you' re not familiar, billguard links to your card accounts on a read - only basis to pull in your transaction history and has some pretty significant backing .
billguard had put out feelers that it was interested in potentially selling itself, prompting mr. vermut and his team to move quickly. helping them was itzik cohen, prosper’s chief business officer, who is also a former israeli pro basketball player well - known to billguard’s israeli founders .
since its inception in 2010, the billguard app has been a trusted piece of expense tracking software, acquiring over 1. 3 million users .
still, billguard is adding employees in dribs and drabs — currently hiring two sales folks in rented office space in manhattan' s columbus circle .
billguard helps you detect unwanted, inaccurate or fraudulent charges on your credit card statements, and stay on top of your finances. if you aren’t already in the habit of reviewing your credit card transactions one - by - one at least once a month, billguard might help you save money .
merging two companies takes time, and it may be another year until consumers recognize the billguard budget software as synonymous with prosper daily personal finance software .
billguard utilizes bank - level aes 256 - bit encryption and all data processing is performed on isolated servers that have no direct access to the internet .
as of last month, billguard also issues personalized data - breach alerts, that automatically inform you when a business you’ve shopped at has been breached .
with employees on two continents and software that ties together merchants and consumers, billguard is trying to solve one big problem — shady credit card charges .
< a href =
urltoken
> billguard < / a > has come a long way in a short time. the company launched its s
click here to download the complete report, or for a quick overview of the findings and billguard' s solution an infographic can be viewed here .
if you want to have the highest levels of protection for your identity and credit card activity, you will want to consider prosper daily (billguard) .
yet to date, billguard has not announced any bank customers. and samid says he can' t even discuss how many it' s talking to .
the deal for the five - year - old billguard came together in about six weeks, aaron vermut, prosper’s chief executive, said in an interview .
ultimately, the billguard app (prosper daily app) is focused less on budgeting, and more so on protecting your financial activity and shielding against identity theft .
in the uk, billguard supports all the major banks except barclays and hsbc, while in australia and new zealand, we’re assured all major banks are supported .
finally, while billguard was once a subscription - based product, you’ll be pleased to know that as of february this year, it’s completely free to use .
are information about good and bad charges, merchant reliability and their responsiveness to billing inquiries. this shared knowledge allows billguard to quickly notify users when other community members are questioning similar charges on their credit and debit cards. if a grey charge is suspected, billguard directly connects users with merchants for expedited resolution and refund .
of course, other apps have tried to help users save money through analytics and local discounts. so what makes billguard think it can succeed where they’ve failed ?
with its new data breach alerts, billguard will send a push notification to users whenever one of their cards is suspected to have been obtained by hackers. due to the number of charges and amount of data it sees, billguard finds that it can identify and notify users with affected accounts more quickly than the merchants themselves .
if you don’t recognize the charge, you can instruct the billguard app (prosper daily app) to perform additional due diligence by contacting the merchant for additional information .
two years in the making, the billguard iphone app is the culmination of the company' s pioneering work, crowdsourcing and analyzing millions of consumer - disputed transactions .
billguard (prosper daily) is one of the fastest - growing expense tracking apps that automatically monitors your credit / debit card expenses and quickly pinpoints suspicious activities and charges .
billguard flags merchants on your credit card statements who frequently charge consumers for products or services they' ve either forgotten about or they didn' t know they were requesting .
when it comes to comparing billguard reviews and mint reviews, both apps are in steep competition. in fact, they are nearly neck - in - neck on both platforms .
still, the paid version of the billguard app (prosper daily app) provides essential features that mint does not, like credit fraud protection, insurance, and identity restoration .
the billguard iphone app seeks to make identifying those charges easier by highlighting new questionable charges users might get. while the billguard web product was designed mainly as a set - it - and - forget - it type of application, the iphone app hopes to keep users engaged with push notifications, letting them know of questionable charges as they pop up .
under the prosper brand, billguard’s services won’t change much. already users have the option to “optimize” their credit through a button in the app that links to prosper’s lending service .
the internet - based loan marketplace plans to announce on thursday that it has purchased billguard, a start - up that helps customers manage their money and protect their financial identity .
to determine how the prosper daily app (billguard app) will stack up against big financial planning software, we began by reviewing the services and features offered through mint budget software .
the new billguard app, which is available for both android phones and tablets, builds on all the features that the company had previously built into system, and adds to them .
“…bank - level security to ensure your data is kept private and secure. we require you to set a four - digit pin for your billguard account and encrypt all communication. ”
with the rebranding, the former billguard becomes prosper’s first mobile app and is the company’s first beachhead into what chief executive aaron vermut hopes will be a broader suite of mobile products .
prosper marketplace, the marketplace lender focused on refinancing and credit rehabilitation, has re - launched its billguard app (acquired last september) under its own brand as prosper daily. with
with spend analytics, billguard is beginning to move from being just a “personal finance security” company to also offering personal finance management tools. in other words, it’s entering mint territory .
there’s nothing like a well - executed product launch to get the breakaway team’s collective adrenalin pumping. the recent launch of the billguard ios app proved to be exceptionally exciting and rewarding .
billguard' s engine, heralded by online banking report as
one of the top online banking innovations of all time ,
has identified over $ 50 million in grey charges so far .
our data shows that if every american cardholder used the billguard iphone app, the total annual savings in grey charges could top $ 7 billion ,
said ouzan .
when the billguard app (prosper daily app) flags such a transaction, you are notified and provided with the option of validating / confirming that the charge (s) is valid .
bottom line: billguard flags merchants on your credit card statements who frequently charge consumers for products or services they' ve either forgotten about or they didn' t know they were requesting .
about billguard: billguard is the transaction intelligence network™ enabling trusted commerce via credit cards, debit cards and digital wallets, by harnessing the inputs of millions of consumers and merchants and financial service providers. this crowdsourced knowledge empowers consumers to intelligently monitor their spending and resolve unwanted
grey charges
directly with merchants via billguard' s mobile app or their bank' s online statements, saving everyone time and money. billguard has won numerous top industry awards and was named one of the top banking innovations of all time in 2012 by online banking report. the company has offices in new york city and tel aviv and is backed by prominent investors including bessemer venture partners, khosla ventures, eric schmidt' s innovation endeavors and peter thiel' s founders fund .
billguard has headquartered its marketing, sales and business development in nyc. it was the logical choice for us, given that the billguard service merges technology with finance to give consumers the first tool to help them save money by identifying grey charges and resolving billing disputes. we are proud to be in a city that is home to the world’s largest financial institutions and most dynamic technology innovators .
as a step further in ensuring that the billguard app is safe, the firm’s systems are monitored by their own security staff 24 / 7 and audited daily by verisign and mcafee' s hackersafe .
it' s clear that mint is a major competitor for the billguard app, even after becoming the prosper daily app. the crucial distinction between the two apps comes down to pricing and core features .
two years ago, billguard launched to help consumers identify fraudulent charges on their credit cards. now it' s hoping to save them money with the launch of a new iphone app determined to identify and
billguard offers spending analytics, too. this will let you break down your spending categorically, and let you see where you might be overextending yourself. this should help you to reform your spending habits .
you can grab this latest version now from the app store link below. if billguard is a favorite of yours, be sure to let folks in these new countries now what you love about it !
billguard, the leading personal finance protection company, today unveiled its free app for iphone, offering the only tool for combatting the $ 14 billion dollars lost by american cardholders to unwanted
grey charges .
this part may make some people feel a little queasy, after all you’re handing over your precious bank details to a third - party. first up, billguard itself is a read - only service, so you (or anyone else) won’t be able to make any transfers with the app itself. however, this doesn’t circumvent the fact that you are still handing your details over. but billguard says it uses :
the user interface shows all your transactions on each card for the preset time range you select: 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, this month, last month, this year or all time. you’ll also see billguard’s assessment of how many transactions are ok and how many are questionable. billguard prioritizes these transactions for review, too. you can then go over the questionable charges for possible errors or fraud .
billguard' s home page is a dashboard that displays a small window and four navigational buttons. your total credit card debt incurred so far in the current month appears in the window, along with your balance .
billguard is expanding its reach with the launch of an android app, and also adding a new feature that will alert users when their cards have been affected by a target - style data breach. the new billg
in addition to these protections, billguard has a few other innovative services. you can link your credit cards and debit cards to the app and it will monitor your transactions. if you enable geolocation features on your phone, you will be at the cutting edge of fraud prevention. if billguard sees that you are in new york, but a gas station charge is being attempted in los angeles, you would be alerted .
it all comes down to the engagement the company sees from users, according to samid. personal finance management apps normally see users sign up and quickly lose interest once the novelty wears off. but billguard is seeing its users open up the app an average of four times a week. in the same way that people clean out their inboxes, billguard users are going there to clear away questionable charges, almost every day .
as one of the fastest - growing news media sources that performs detailed reviews of financial platforms, apps, software, and advisors, we frequently run into questions about billguard and its rebranding as the prosper daily app .
arriving for us consumers way back in 2010, billguard touts itself as the world’s first ‘people - powered antivirus system for bills’. its predictive algorithms alert you when there’s unexpected charges such as hidden fees, billing errors, scams and fraud on your credit card or debit card, while it also serves up warnings when a similar dubious charge has been flagged by other users. as such, the ‘billguard brain’ becomes more accurate over time .
billguard says it is on course to pass the million - users mark, and is adding 2, 500 more each day. since launch, it claims to have flagged more than $ 60 million in suspect charges .
you’ll need to register an account with billguard, and you must set yourself up with a 4 - digit passcode to access the app. after that, you tap to add your debit or credit card (s) .
in many cases, people forget they signed up for something, which merchants are counting on, says mary anne keegan, chief marketing officer for billguard. and consumers often don' t dispute the charges, she says .
with that in mind, billguard is perhaps based on the same premise of probabilistic modeling (gathering unstructured data and drawing algorithmic conclusions) that the israeli army might use to make decisions on how best to protect its borders .
billguard retained aite group, a leading research and advisory firm with expertise in financial services, to conduct the study to examine the grey charge problem among us debit and credit cardholders and the service cost impact on card issuers .
based on billguard - provided non - personally identifiable information for 4, 817 randomly selected billguard users from january to december 2012, this impact note by senior analyst ron shevlin sizes the grey charge problem among u. s. cardholders (debit and credit) and the service cost impact on issuers. the piece also defines the 11 types of grey charges and shows how it is in issuers' best interest to help cardholders monitor and avoid grey charges .
three days and 32 startup pitches later, the winner of techcrunch disrupt has been determined. out of the 30 startups and two audience choice winners, we whittled the list down to six finalists, which include billguard, ccloop, do @, getaround, invoiceasap, and sonar. without further ado, the two runners - up are billguard and sonar (that’s the first time we’ve had two runners - up). and the winner is…. getaround !
as we said before, there are countless finance apps out there, but so far billguard is the only one that offers a complete personal finance experience. and like a fairy godmother, they will always have the user’s back .
billguard, an israeli startup that helps people fight credit card fraud by using “the wisdom of the crowds, ” was recently introduced to the public, after it receives an initial funding of $ 3 million from american investor funds .
simultaneous to the launch, the billguard ios app was featured in the apple app store. this featured status—combined with the widespread media coverage that was hard to avoid—helped push the app into the coveted # 1 position in its category .
anyway, that’s all functionality that billguard had previously enabled. but now, thanks to all the information it has about charges its users have made, it can also alert them when their cards are at risk of a data breach .
features and functionality aside, billguard is a beautifully designed app that adopts familiar mailbox - like swiping gestures to let you navigate your way through the app. it’ll likely find itself many new fans in the wake of its international expansion .
he began billguard in 2009 after he noticed a ridiculous $ 9. 99 recurring charge on his wife' s credit card bill. after some googling he figured out it was a concert ticket vendor scam that cost him 60 bucks .
as such, i am always interested when i run into platforms like billguard, mint (sold to intuit for $ 170 million), prosper daily, and a wide range of other highly innovative tools that are disrupting the financial segment .
in september, 2015 prosper acquired billguard, a company that created a mobile personal finance application. the application allowed users to track financial transactions and prevent fraud. today, prosper announced the end of the billguard brand and introduced a new application with many changes. the new app called prosper daily is available today on apple and android devices. peter and i spoke with itzik cohen, chief business officer to learn more about the new application and how it fits into prosper loans .
today, we speak with yaron samid, co - founder and ceo of billguard, a free personal finance security service that uses crowdsourced big - data analytics to identify deceptive, erroneous and unauthorized charges to your credit or debit card bills .
the gist of billguard from here on in is this: you stipulate which spending categories you wish to view (e. g. ‘clothing’, ‘cash’, ‘eating out’), and set up notifications for when new charges hit your account, which can be daily or weekly. while you can use billguard to view how much you’ve spent on various things, otherwise known as ‘budgeting’, this is not its main selling point. security and saving money is the name of the game here .
samid instantly began searching for the expertise to build the system. he found that in ouzan. a french - born 22 - year - old, his first day at billguard was his last in the israeli army after a five years stint .
although move from analogue banking to digital is disrupting the ground beneath their feet, the banks still do have one advantage: they hold a lot of core data. and it' s this data that companies like billguard would like access to .
if everyone went over their credit card statements with a fine - tooth comb and reported any questionable or unwanted charges immediately, there wouldn' t be much need for an iphone app like billguard. but not everyone does. i know i don' t. billguard, described by its developer as a
personal finance security service ,
is a smart, useful, innovative iphone app (also available on android) that' s simple—almost fun—to set up and use. it displays your credit card charges as they occur, flagging any that have been frequently reported by members of its network as questionable or unauthorized. you can either confirm that those charges are authorized or ask billguard, via a simple automated reporting system, to contact the merchant on your behalf .
i have historically used the free option, depending upon early detection from creditkarma and my own ability to manage the resolution process. after doing this research, i am going to buy a zander membership for my mother and am tempted by billguard for myself .
in conjunction with announcing the new mobile app for billguard—a popular online service that scans users’ credit and debit card bills, alerting them to potentially deceptive and unwanted charges that are known as “grey charges”—the company teamed with research firm aite group to issue the finance industry’s first definitive research study on grey charges. the findings of this study were incredibly eye opening. the grey charges news got a lot of attention, and drove massive attention to the only service available to help credit card holders identify grey charges, billguard .
the free app intelligently prioritizes noteworthy, recent and recurring charges across all of a cardholder' s credit and debit cards .
it' s like a smart inbox for your money ,
said samid .
the app uses crowdsourced analytics from billguard' s national transaction intelligence network™ to help users quickly spot and recognize charges deemed questionable by other cardholders on their cards. as users archive verified charges and trusted merchants with a single finger - swipe, billguard gets smarter, customizing their priority list with the charges they want to review. to handle billing inquiries and disputes billguard completely bypasses the costly and inefficient chargeback networks to connect cardholders directly to merchants for free, expedited resolution. it' s a classic win - win - win for consumers, merchants and banks .
according to billguard ceo yaron samid, the company has found that its analytics are the main value prop for the app, but it’s the tracking feature that’s the lead utility, and what keeps users coming back an average of 4. 5 times a week .
collectively, consumers paid $ 14. 3 billion in unwanted charges last year, according to the survey commissioned by billguard, an online service and app that tracks and alerts consumers to these kinds of charges and helps users dispute them. it found that one in three american card holders is hit with these
gray charges
at an average of $ 215 per person per year. the survey analyzed an anonymous sampling of a year' s worth of credit and debit card transactions from nearly 5, 000 billguard users .
billguard was a finalist at techcrunch disrupt a few years ago, and since has raised $ 13 million in funding from investors that include khosla ventures, founders fund, eric schmidt’s innovation endeavors, bessemer venture partners, ia ventures, saul klein and joe lonsdale .
* to celebrate its launch week, billguard is making its premium upgrade, which supports 10 cards, available for a one - time in - app purchase of $ 9. 99. download the app here. continuing its mission to protect consumers from grey charges, billguard today also released the 2013 industry report on grey charges, a first - of - its kind study revealing that american cardholders were hit with $ 14. 3 billion in deceptive grey charges in 2012. click here for more information about the report .
if you aren' t careful, these fees can amount to some big bucks. billguard reported that about one third of cardholders in its sample paid $ 100 or more in grey fees during 2012, and almost one in 10 paid more than $ 500 .
billguard is a personal finance security platform that enables users to track and monitor their spending across credit and debit card transactions. founded in 2009, it has its headquarters in new york city. as of october 2014, it reports that it has f ...
prosper marketplace, a peer - to - peer lender that has funded more than $ 4 billion in personal loans, announced thursday that it will acquire billguard, a spending - and - credit - tracking app, for $ 30 million. billguard works by letting its users track their spending, monitor their credit, set up fraud alerts and, via crowd - sourced data, flag unauthorized charges; it says that it has helped its 1. 3 million users flag more than $ 70 million in unauthorized charges since its inception in 2010 .
the alerts are useful enough, but since billguard also tracks your credit cards and accounts for suspicious charges (and even so - called
grey charges
you may not otherwise notice), you can opt to keep an eye on things and act if you see anything strange. for its part, the new android app looks great and includes all of billguard' s features, including budgeting tools, account overviews, and more. hit the link below to learn more about the new feature, or to download the android app at google play .
in either case, samid said billguard is going to be ultra picky about the coupons that it sends to users. and since it’s scanning the web for new discounts and it’s not working with merchants to pitch discounts to users, it’s not incentivized to spam them with offers .
if you follow financial news, you know that last year there were numerous data breaches at major corporations like target. in response, billguard has added a watchdog feature to alert you via email and phone when these occur, in case you don' t hear about it quickly .
the event, held at the british museum, will feature speakers including bbva chairman and ceo, francisco gonzález. billguard founder and cto raphael ouzan will be speaking in the
innovating by design
session alongside hiroki takeuchi of gocardless, taavet hinrikus of transferwise and valentin stalf of number26 .
the top 10 competitors in billguard' s competitive set are mint software, personal capital, credit karma, lifelock, sigfig, credit sesame, mint bills, level money, identity guard and mcafee. together they have raised over 6. 5b between their estimated 9. 8k employees .
if you want the highest level of protection for the lowest cost, you might want to consider downloading the app billguard, which was just acquired by prosper. for $ 9. 99 a month, or $ 83. 88 a year if you pay all at once, you receive billguard ultimate. with this product, all three bureaus will be monitored daily for changes. you will be given access to a us - based recovery agent to manage the process from beginning to end if your identity is compromised. and a $ 1 million insurance policy is available as well .
for example, billguard might detect two $ 7. 95 charges for amazon kindle on december 26 and ask you if one is a duplicate charge. you can then log into your amazon account and see if you actually bought two kindle books on the same day that were identical in price .
to confirm that they made a purchase, users simply swipe right on charges as they appear in the app. if, however, they don’t recognize a charge or wish to dispute it, billguard makes it easy to report those they believe to fraudulent or contact the merchant from inside the app .
i was looking for a system of collaborative data analytics, but i found it in a parallel industry — anti - spam
software, says samid .
we modeled billguard after this anti - spam methodology and we built the consumer service first. that' s how we started .
the smart savings feature notifies users of discounts or coupons that they may not know about. since billguard knows a user’s purchase history, the offers will be relevant to their day to day life. a user can also accept or reject coupons, and the app will then adjust its behavior accordingly .
android / ios: billguard, the service that already notifies you of questionable charges and monitors your credit for you, now also offers personalized data breach alerts. now, if a bank, credit card, or retailer you frequent loses data in a security breach, the app will notify you immediately .
two years ago, billguard launched to help consumers identify fraudulent charges on their credit cards. now it’s hoping to save them money with the launch of a new iphone app determined to identify and dispute so - called “grey charges” — that is, charges that they might have agreed to but forgot about .
our pr strategy was built around the powerful one - two punch of defining the massive grey charge problem via industry research—which was quantified at over $ 14 billion in 2012—and connecting the concept to the highly effective and easy - to - use billguard ios app solution via media and analyst relations and social media .
a simple, friendly solution personal finance management applications are just getting started when they connect to your financial institution and download transactions. they have many other features. billguard is much less complex, but it' s still very smart, in a couple of ways. first, it draws on the experience of other consumers to let you know when what you' re experiencing with a particular merchant is widespread. and second, it has isolated one element of personal finance that can get lost in the noise of more robust applications. billguard provides a quick and easy solution to one clearly - defined problem–gray charges. which are you more likely to do, pore over your printed or downloaded credit card statement, or pull out your iphone and spend a minute or two with a cool app? billguard is one personal finance app i' m going leave on my iphone long after i' ve finished testing it .
tracking is also important, since only about a third of all fraudulent charges are caught by the banks themselves. the other two - thirds are reported by credit card owners themselves. so far, billguard says that its users have reported more than $ 60 million worth of fraudulent charges identified through the app .
these gray charges are not illegal; they' re just kind of unethical and a little bit questionable ,
says ron shevlin, senior analyst at aite group, which conducted the survey for billguard .
and many times it' s the consumer' s behavior that triggers these gray charges .
it is not only direct criminals, but legitimate merchants who sneak deceptive and unwanted charges that most people will miss. just like google uses collective power to detect spam, billguard provides the first - ever service to identify and resolve those grey charges by harnessing the knowledge of millions of consumers reporting bad charges .
billguard analyzes pools of data and, if it detects something suspicious such as random fees or ‘grey’ charges (e. g. a subscription auto - renewal), it raises a red flag and asks you whether you want help recognizing it. it also allows you to contact the merchant directly through the app .
shevlin hopes card issuers will soon be required to monitor the charges in some way. and billguard is working with the consumer financial protection bureau to supply data about the prevalence of deceptive marketing practices as part of an initiative cfpb launched last fall to encourage
consumer - friendly innovation
in the financial services industry .
to use this free service, you sign up for an account using your email address, then register the credit and debit cards you want to monitor. choose the bank that issues your card, then enter your login credentials. billguard will scan your accounts for hidden fees, billing errors, scams and fraud .
that starts with a new design that’s built to better highlight how users are spending their money at a glance, while also showing how much more or less they’ve spent versus a usual month. bringing that spend analytics front and center while making it easier to understand was one of the key areas of focus for billguard .
tap the push pin, and another small window of options opens. if you click the help me recognize this button, billguard provides links that let you ask a friend about it via email or text message. you can also start a search in google from that point to try and figure out what the charge is. the report / contact merchant button takes you to the report charge window, where you can select your problem from a list that includes stolen card, forgotten charge, and hidden fee. you' ll be able to enter text expanding on that, and then you can authorize billguard to contact the merchant for you .
billguard is straightforward and easy to use and limited in what it does, but it does offer a more inclusive battery of services these days. it won' t give you an overall picture of your financial situation, but in addition to keeping your accounts safe, it might help you stick to a budget, too .
in order to engage with and retain these younger customers the banks need to figure out a way to focus on the consumer experience, making it easier and more pleasant. ouzan says that means continuing to develop products like billguard that can be used in an ongoing basis to transform the banking experience for the benefit of consumers .
ny has always been “the great american melting pot. ” it has a long, rich history of enabling entrepreneurs to make their dreams become a reality and businesses to flourish and grow. for billguard, ny was a logical choice, given that it is home to the world’s largest financial institutions and most dynamic technology innovators .
the update comes on the heels of billguard' s new android app (the service was previously ios only) so you get the benefit of improved security as well as the ability to track your finances on the go. the video below is a good introduction to the new app. the service tooks the initiative to start tracking security breaches after the big target incident back in december, and now whenever something similar happens to a company you shop with, or a bank you have an account with, billguard will alert you via push notification and via email. it' ll also include instructions and suggestions for what you should do as a result .
gray charges and security breaches billguard doesn' t promote itself as an identity theft - prevention tool, though it can work like one if you check it regularly. rather, its mission is to help you avoid
gray charges ,
unwanted hits on your credit cards. maybe you signed up for something and forgot about it. or maybe the merchant used misleading, deceptive language or hid a recurring charge in fine print that you' re unlikely to have seen. billguard claims that u. s. cardholders spend $ 14. 3 billion in gray charges annually, so it' s a good idea to keep an eye out for them .
of those who incurred gray charges last year, the largest percentage dealt with charges totaling $ 20 to $ 50 for the year, the billguard report shows. the average individual charge was slightly higher, though, at $ 61, likely because some of the less prevalent types of charges can be for higher amounts, keegan says .
billguard has developed a “collective vigilance, or people - powered solution, ” that can take an alert raised by one of their users and send it to every other user that might also be affected. the company warns them about excess credit card charges, billing errors, fraud, or other charges of which they are not aware .
the problem is that most customers don’t pay enough attention to their credit card accounts to know that they’re there or dispute them. according to a study conducted using billguard data, there are approximately 233 million grey charges posted to u. s. credit cards every year, resulting in about $ 14. 3 billion lost by consumers annually .
billguard has raised $ 13 million from investors that include khosla ventures, founders fund, eric schmidt’s innovation endeavors, bessemer, ia ventures, saul klein, and joe lonsdale. the company now has 23 employees, most of which are based in tel aviv, israel… but it’s looking to hire more. (* hint, hint * )
“our core mission is to use data to save people money, ” billguard ceo yaron samid told me via skype. “we’re really good at saving people from the bad stuff, and now we want to find the good stuff… [ the app ] is like the perfect accountant running in the background and trying to find ways to save money. ”
billguard is 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 . 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 . in september 2015 , billguard was acquired by prosper marketplace . billguard was named " one of the top online banking innovations of all time " by marketconsensus . and a “ top 10 tech company ” by american banker . billguard is also ranked as the " top 2015 most powerful financial protection app " by advisoryhq news . 
billguard is 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. 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. in september 2015, billguard was acquired by prosper marketplace. billguard was named " one of the top online banking innovations of all time " by marketconsensus. and a “ top 10 tech company ” by american banker. billguard is also ranked as the " top 2015 most powerful financial protection app " by advisoryhq news.
billguard is 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. 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. in september 2015, billguard was acquired by prosper marketplace. billguard was named " one of the top online banking innovations of all time " by marketconsensus. and a “ top 10 tech company ” by american banker. billguard is also ranked as the " top 2015 most powerful financial protection app " by advisoryhq news.