LowerMyBills.com

LowerMyBills.com is a consumer finance corporate website that connects prospective mortgage borrowers to lenders. The site connects consumers who respond to their marketing with service providers.

LowerMyBills.com
Private
IndustryPersonal Finance, Mortgage, Insurance, Solar, Credit Cards
Founded1999
FounderMatt Coffin 
HeadquartersPlaya Vista, California
Key people
Graham Skidmore, CEO / Vince Lewis, President / Jeff Hughes, President
ProductsHome Loans, Credit Cards, Auto Insurance, Health Insurance, Solar
Websitelowermybills.com

Core Digital Media is the parent company of LowerMyBills.com. Core Digital Media's corporate offices are in Los Angeles, California, United States.[1]

History

LowerMyBills.com was founded by Matt Coffin[2] in 1999.[3] The then-privately held company was purchased in 2005 by Experian for $330 million, with performance-based incentives that could add up to an additional $50 million over the next two years. In the year ending March 31, 2005, the company had an operating profit of $26 million on sales of $120 million.[4][5] In December 2007, Experian launched LowerMyBills.co.uk for UK consumers.

In May 2012, Ybrant Digital announced that it had agreed to purchase PriceGrabber, LowerMyBills, and ClassesUSA.com from Experian. Steve Krenzer was to move from Experian to Ybrant to continue to lead these three businesses. Ybrant expected the purchase to nearly double its revenues.[6]

In September 2012, the purchase of PriceGrabber, LowerMyBills, and ClassesUSA.com from Experian fell through.[7] In October 2012, Experian announced that it had completed the sale of its PriceGrabber, LowerMyBills.com, and ClassesUSA.com to the management teams of those businesses. The company now operates under the name of Core Digital Media.[8]

In January, 2017, Rock Holdings Inc., the parent company of Quicken Loans, acquired LowerMyBills.com and ClassesUSA.com from their parent company Core Digital Media.[9]

Complaints include that Lower My Bills, owned by Quicken Loans, sells customer leads to Quicken Loans, who in turn assigns telemarketers to call customers, soliciting new business.[10] Some complaints allege a violation of the Can Spam Act for calling customers who never signed up.

Advertising

TNS Media Intelligence reports that the company spent nearly $75 million on web advertisements in 2006 through November, making it one of the medium's largest advertisers.[11] The website's banner ads generally include animations or soundless video clips that are not related to financial matters.[11][12] The site connects consumers who respond to their marketing with a network of leading service providers. This is done via lead "forms" where consumers voluntarily submit relevant information regarding the transaction under consideration. Consumers can approve who they will be connected with and are told that the service provider will contact them via phone and or email, in compliance with the TCPA and other relevant regulations.

Complaints

There have been:

  • 22 complaints filed on ripoffreport.com.[13]
  • 98 complaints filed on consumeraffairs.com.[14]

LowerMyBills receives an A- rating from the Better Business Bureau, has had 7 complaints in 3 years, and in 2017 settled a $2 million dollar fraudulent activity lawsuit with the state of Texas.[10]

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References
  1. Home page. LowerMyBills.com. Retrieved on October 4, 2010.
  2. "Jake Winebaum Smile Just Got Brighter As He Raises $15 Million In Funding". Jewish Business News. 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  3. "Experian Launches Interactive Unit with $330 million Acquisition of LowerMyBills.com". insideARM. 12 September 2006.
  4. "ROUNDUP GUS beefs-up Experian with LowerMyBills.com purchase", Forbes, May 5, 2005. Accessed May 16, 2007. Archived from the original May 20, 2005.
  5. "Acquisition of LowerMyBills.com by Experian for $330m plus earn-out", Experian press release dated May 5, 2005. Accessed May 16, 2007.
  6. "Ybrant to Buy US$283 Million (INR 1500 Crores) Business from Experian". Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  7. "Experian's PriceGrabber sale falls through". Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  8. "Experian plc : Sale of PriceGrabber and NA online lead generation". Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  9. "Rock Holdings Signs Agreement to Acquire LowerMyBills and ClassesUSA, Enters Lead Acquisition Space". Quicken Loans Pressroom. 2017-01-06. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  10. "Better Business Bureau: LowerMyBills.com". www.bbb.org. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  11. Stone, Brad. "Don’t Like the Dancing Cowboys? Results Say You Do", The New York Times, January 18, 2007. Accessed May 16, 2007.
  12. Gomes, Lee (May 9, 2007). "As Web Ads Grow, Sites Get Trickier About Targeting You". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. "Ripoff Report: LowerMyBills.com". www.ripoffreport.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  14. "Consumer Affairs: LowerMyBills.com". www.consumeraffairs.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
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