BillShrink, the startup that helps users cut costs on their phone bills, is expanding its automated advisor to an entirely new field: Credit Cards. The site’s recommendation engine will now include a database of over 200 major credit cards, helping users choose an ideal card after entering only a few basic criteria.
To begin using the system, users first decide if they’re interested in a card that will reward them for keeping their bills paid off, or one that will minimize the interest accrued on balances that are being paid off over time. Next, they’re asked to enter the amount of money the typically spend in a month, their current credit standing, and the places they spend the most money (for example, “groceries” or “airline tickets”).
Using this data BillShrink generates a listing of its highest matches, prominently displaying the overall monetary gains, along with a number of graphs that detail earning rates, fees, and limits. The site also includes an in-depth description of each card for further reference. Beyond basic numeric calculations, BillShrink also takes into account the previously entered spending preferences – for example, it will give preference to a card that accumulates “miles” quickly when someone is a frequent traveler.
BillShrink is headed by ex-Photobucket exec Peter Pham, and offers a similar comparison service for mobile phones which launched in beta last April. Using signal maps, plan rates, and usage habits, the site recommends what kind of service plan each user should be on, or if they should switch carriers entirely. While the service got off to a rocky start, it has made great strides and will be incorporating the revamped interface that launches today alongside the credit-card portion of the site.
Financial startup Mint also offers credit card recommendations, though these are not nearly as comprehensive as those seen on BillShrink.
(linkback) Thrive or Fail? BillShrink – Helps users cut costs on phone and credit cards [VOTE] – http://www.thri...rfail.com/eb4ea
Just what I need … more credit cards!
the site works very well, but another credit card…i will pass
Raskin, Free Pogo,
It’s really more about asking yourself if you have the “right” credit card. We all have one, but depending on your balance, spending habits, etc we’ll help you find the most optimized one that fits you the best and save you real money.
re: Kevin,
the site is under quite a bit of load right now, please try again in a bit. We definitely do a deeper dive in analyzing which card is best than anyone else.
Thanks for the post Jason,
Peter
Hi Peter, many thanks for taking the time to respond. I will try again and, as I said, I think your offering is a lot better than most of the existing credit card comparison sites. Nicely designed, simple navigation and pleasant UX. Thanks again,
Kind regards
Kevin
Good concept; in the current economic climate we need all the help with our debt and expenses we can get. Is more personalised and engaging than creditcards.com and other similar sites. Nice layout and easy to use. But without knowing all the “variables” that form part of the comparison its difficult to understand how sophisticated – and therefore accurate – the recommendation is. It seems that they are only comparing a few key variables. I tried to find a card but the search result took too long to load and eventually I had to log off.
They are on the right track, but – watch this space!
Wow. Beautiful redesign.
The people behind this company are incredible. I bet a large number of TechCrunch readers actually know Peter personally.
Peter–Are you speaking for BillShrink officially? I agree–it’s about the right card.
I’ve been considering trying to get a rewards card myself, just haven’t felt the urge to read through pages of competing cards. This is an exciting service, if it works!
Which… it doesn’t. But I’m guessing, as usual, that is TechCrunch’s fault.
Kevin, yes speaking on behalf of Billshrink.
Actually combined with Techcrunch, lifehacker and the consumerist are crushing our site
Peter Pham
CEO (this is for Kevin)
Hi Peter, I think you were addressing Clayton?
Where do they source their credit card database from?
Sweet. A lackluster search tool which requires 10 hours of dev time, serving up the same CardOffers database that every other credit card affiliate has been using. These have been around on about 100 credit card sites for 3 years.
Not sure why this is on TC.
I just tried the CC function and after taking what it seemed for ever it gave me a blank page. So … this is a user they could not convert.
Fabian, sorry about that. (earlier comment) = The volume of traffic from all the positive reviews is crushing the site. Please do try again later today..
This doesn’t seem much different than IndexCreditCards.com or other card comparison sites, although the interface might be a bit slicker. Surprised to see coverage here, Lifehacker, Cnet…
You must obviously be the owner of indexcreditcards… let’s not troll…
How could you even compare? Your site looks like a spambot threw up with keywords.
Site only works in IE 7 or Firefox by browser detection??? Javascript kept trying to fire AJAX query in a loop. Bug on the page….Too bad they want me to use a browser that isn’t supported in our enterprise environment. This is arrogance and snobbery. When designers make a special page to interject their own browser preferences before the site will load is very juvenile. Will not revisit.
@shawn The browser detection is just to serve up different style sheets for IE6. We’ve worked hard on supporting IE6 and are working on fixing the bug that you’ve been seeing. If you contact us via the site we’d be happy to let you know when it’s fixed.
Not working for me either. Just too much traffic today I guess.
That definitely sounds like a useful tool. I wouldn’t mind having one or two lower APR’s I will have to look further into that tonight! Thanks for the article.
Jake
NoteScribe: Premier Note Taking Software
Re: these tools have been around for a while now.
That may be so, but not as pretty or easy. Sometimes, It’s not that the idea is out there, but that it’s marketed to me in a unoffensive way (such as on a blog…) and that it’s SUPER easy to use. I’m a very lazy, lazy person.
You should checkout KnowBeforeYouApply — http://www.know...oreyouapply.com — which works to inform you what you would be approved for before ever applying. As 85% of online credit card loans are declined, it makes more sense to know what you would be approved for. We achieve that through our relationship with the credit bureau and card issuers sharing their pre-qual criteria. BTW, its all FREE, you get a free credit grade from your true credit report and it does not affect your credit score…
Great, you must be friends with Justin the troll above. Love how your site lists management as experts with no actual names.. And you are asking for my name, address, and last 4 digits of my social?? yeah, ok, would you like me to mail you a key to my house and let you know when I’m not home? Anything else you need to steal my identity or hack into any bank account I have?
Let’s not troll and spam mr. EZE?? Is that a real name?
Hey EZE,
Great, you must be friends with Justin the troll above. Love how your site lists management as experts with no actual names.. And you are asking for my name, address, and last 4 digits of my social?? yeah, ok, would you like me to mail you a key to my house and let you know when I’m not home? Anything else you need to steal my identity or hack into any bank account I have?
Let’s not troll and spam mr. EZE?? Is that a real name?
Wow. “spamguy” (nice name) you need to chill out and maybe not hit send twice. And you should also look a little deeper into things before you slam them. I checked into KnowBeforeYouApply and apparently they just use the last 4 of your social for identity verification. And who cares about management names? Does anybody even read that stuff anyway?
Love the whole idea though of both services. Not that I need another credit card, but if I did I’d probably give one or both a shot. Um except I can’t use Billshrink b/c it freezes! Are they still not handling the increased traffic from Friday’s reviews?