BILLSHARK

BILLSHARK and Payrailz Team Up to Help Consumers Save on Monthly Bills

BILLSHARK and Payrailz Team Up to Help Consumers Save on Monthly Bills
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BILLSHARK

Bill reduction specialist BILLSHARK is partnering with digital payments company Payrailz to give banks and credit unions a new money-saving offering for their customers and members. Via the agreement, Payrailz will integrate BILLSHARK’s bill negotiation, subscription cancellation, and curated shopping functionality into its platform, giving small businesses and individuals new tools to lower their monthly bill costs.

“BILLSHARK is excited to partner with Payrailz to bring our convenient, no-hassle approach to lowering monthly bills to their growing network of bank and credit union clients,” BILLSHARK co-founder and CEO Steve McKean said. “We look forward to helping Payrailz deliver on their vision of reinventing the way the banking and financial services industry approaches the payment experience.”

BILLSHARK works by negotiating with service providers to find the best possible terms for your monthly bills. Bill payers send copies of their bills to BILLSHARK through its website, app, or email. The company then investigates to see if there are options to lower the amounts that customers pay and updates the customer on how the bill reduction process is going. And for using the service, BILLSHARK provides customers with a $25 dining or shopping reward as a thank you.

BILLSHARK has an 85% success rate in negotiating and winning reductions in bills for cable and satellite TV subscriptions, internet access, satellite radio, and home security. Through a combination of bargaining and cancellations of unwanted subscriptions on behalf of customers, BILLSHARK has saved consumers more than $3.5 million. The company’s service is risk-free; if BILLSHARK does not save the customer money on bills, no fee is paid. For successful bill reductions, BILLSHARK charges 40% of the realized savings. For example, if BILLSHARK saves a customer $500, the fee is $200.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, BILLSHARK demonstrated its Shark Connect bill reduction API at FinovateFall 2017. The API makes it easy for FIs and fintechs to integrate BILLSHARK’s bill reduction features into their applications. This week’s integration with Payrailz is the second such partnership in 2018 for the company; digital banking platform Narmi integrated BILLSHARK’s API at the beginning of the year.

BILLSHARK also made headlines earlier this year when it reported that investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team Mark Cuban would be joining as an advisor and financial backer of the company. Also this spring, BILLSHARK unveiled its One Bill, One Child program, in which the company will pay for middle-school aged kids to receive an hour of financial education from Ramsey Solutions for every bill submitted to BILLSHARK for negotiation.

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BillShark Lands Funding and Advisory Backing from Mark Cuban

BillShark Lands Funding and Advisory Backing from Mark Cuban
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BILLSHARK, Funding

Bill reduction service BillShark received some serious street cred this week. The Massachusetts-based company announced that it has joined forces with another shark– Mark Cuban of Shark Tank fame– who is now advising and backing the company. The financial terms of the agreement were undisclosed, adding to the company’s previous $1.6 million raised.

Under Cuban’s advisory, Billshark and its API will be more visible. Cuban will offer increased brand recognition in places where consumers typically pay their bills.

“We were fortunate to meet Mark and he loved our practical service as well as the potential for our platform,” said Steve McKean, CEO of Billshark. “Monthly subscription bills creep-up over time, seemingly without reason, and Americans overpay for these services by about $50 billion per year. Mark provides unmatched expertise in partnerships, product development and marketing.”

Founded in 2015, BillShark aims to help consumers lower their monthly bills, including TV, wireless, internet, and home security. To ensure they are not overpaying for these services, consumers and businesses upload a photo of an existing bill to the BillShark app, then the BillShark team goes to work negotiating with the biller for a lower rate.

The company’s success is evidenced in the numbers. BillShark frequently saves consumers 25% or more, adding up to hundreds of dollars in savings per year. So far, the company has saved users more than $10 million; the average customer saves about $300 per bill per year. BillShark’s goal is to save users more than $2.7 billion by 2025. “Companies that save their customers both time and money always catch my attention,” said Cuban. “Billshark eliminates the stress of negotiating or cancelling a bill, so its customers can focus on more productive and long-term goals.”

Saving money for users is how BillShark makes its money. The company only charges consumers when it lowers the cost on a bill– this incentivizes the BillShark to maintain a “shark-like” motivation to negotiate a lower rate on a bill. If they can’t get a lower rate on a bill, they don’t charge the user.

BillShark also announced the One Bill, One Child program this week. The program aims to offer middle school students a better financial education to give them the tools they need to successfully manage their finances as adults. For every bill submitted to BillShark, the company pays for a child to receive an hour of financial education from Ramsey Solutions. Billshark’s goal is to educate one million children by 2025.

At FinovateFall 2017, McKean and COO Brian Keaney showcased the bill reduction service. The company started 2018 by partnering with Narmi, which integrated Billshark’s API into its digital banking platform.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BILLSHARK, CAN Capital, Entrust Datacard, Flybits, Insuritas, NTT Data, Onfido, ProfitStars, Revolut, Stratyfy, Swych, Temenos, Twilio, Zuma

On Finovate.com

  • BillShark Lands Funding and Advisory Backing from Mark Cuban.
  • Revolut Unveils New Savings Solution, Vaults.

Around the web

  • Openbank, Santander Group’s digital bank, to deploy WealthSuite from Temenos.
  • The Victory Bank chooses ProfitStars‘ Commercial Lending Center Suite to support commercial loan growth.
  • Identity verification provider Onfido names David Clarke as new CFO.
  • First National Bank of Eagle Lake in Texas partners with Insuritas to launch bank-owned insurance agency.
  • NTT Data announces successful completion of PoC data analysis trial for Bank of England, Join NTT Data at FinovateSpring, May 8-11.
  • CAN Capital hires Tom Davidson as Chief Financial Officer.
  • Entrust Datacard’s IntelliTrust Authentication Solution wins Frost & Sullivan’s 2018 North American Technology Leadership Award.
  • TechCrunch: Twilio’s wireless platform hits general availability.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Asseco, BILLSHARK, Cardlytics, Darwinex, Klarna, Ledger, Zighra

On Finovate.com

  • Klarna Celebrates Year-Over-Year Sales, Profit Gains.

Around the web

  • Fox Business highlights BILLSHARK in feature on “low-effort” savings strategies. See BILLSHARK at FinovateFall in New York next month.
  • Cardlytics to enable the new mobile rewards strategy from SunTrust.
  • Asseco signs four-year agreement to provide support for the electronic bookkeeping system for Poland’s Ministry of Justice. Join Asseco next month in New York for FinovateFall.
  • Zighra Receives Patent for Proprietary AI-Powered Continuous Authentication Platform.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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FinovateFall Sneak Peek: BILLSHARK

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: BILLSHARK
By Tyler Ferst Posted on
Categories: BILLSHARK, FinovateFall 2017, FinovateFall 2017 Presenter Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 11 through 14 in New York. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

BILLSHARK is a bill negotiation service that utilizes the latest mobile technology to help consumers save time and money on their monthly bills

Features

  • Consumers can easily upload bills in two minutes or less.
  • The service is risk-free. There is no fee if customer does not save money.
  • Saved millions for consumers since April 2016 launch

Why it’s a must-see
BILLSHARK’s new bill reduction API, Shark Connect, enables financial institutions and fintech companies to integrate bill reduction capabilities into their applications. BILLSHARK’s partners can enroll custom


Presenter

Steven McKean, Co-Founder and CEO
Steve is a serial entrepreneur specializing in product and customer acquisition. He exited his prior company, Acceller, in 2014.
LinkedIn

 

Brian Keaney, Co-Founder and COO
Brian is a seasoned product and operations executive. In his prior role at Acceller, he scaled 3 contact centers globally.
LinkedIn

 

Check out more previews of upcoming FinovateFall presentations. Visit our registration page to save your spot. 

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