Truebill
By Samantha Weinberg, Managing Editor
As the world becomes increasingly virtual, finance has started to adjust accordingly. Considering the tech-heavy environment we live in today, sooner or later mostly everything will end up online; whether it be having school or work on Zoom, or transferring many aspects of our lives onto VR (virtual reality), everything is bound to adapt to the technological changes.
The finance app, Truebill, founded by three brothers Yahya, Haroon, and Idris Mokhtarzada, has capitalized on these trends, and become a well-known app within the Fintech (financial technology) space. From running lemonade stands to creating other platforms like web.com, these brothers have always been ‘business partners’ with one another. The Mokhtarzada brothers decided to create Truebill after two of the brothers had similar unfortunate experiences: being charged for something unnecessary before discovering the bill. One brother found he had been charged $40 for in-flight wifi, although, had not recently taken a flight. He then noticed he had been charged $40 over the past 14 months, monthly, amounting to at least $560 ֿwithout putting these useless expenses, to an end. The other brother faced a similar dilemma with home security charges. With their invention, situations like these are easily avoidable. These three brothers successfully created a highly sophisticated, rapidly growing startup whose success will undoubtedly continue as the world becomes more remote.
Truebill is a personal finance app that saves users money by informing them about superfluous subscriptions or expensive, yet useless, bills. The app also deals with negotiating bills that are unnecessarily overpriced. According to Truebill, 80% of users were able to lower their expenses or quit useless subscriptions, resulting in saving approximately $512 per user a year. Truebill can track users’ credit scores, help them save money on bills, and improve their budgeting. The company’s mission statement is to “meaningfully improve the financial health of millions of everyday people.” They want to guide users in managing their finances by keeping track of many subscriptions or bills, a complicated and costly process.
In the article Why Did Rocket Companies Acquire Truebill?, the writer, Aakash Gupta, informs the readers that Truebill sold itself to Rocket Companies in 2021. Rocket Companies was founded by Dan Gilbert, the majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, in 1985. The company began as a mortgage provider and transformed into a more ‘internet-focused lender’ after its IPO in 1998. Rocket Companies purchased Truebill for $1.275 billion. Both parties benefited from this purchase; the founders of Truebill were able to sell Truebill for a great price, and Dan Gilbert and the rest of Rocket Companies will continue to benefit from their purchase of Truebill.
As the world adapts to technological advances, the finance world is bound to follow. People's personal finances are becoming more accessible through the internet, helping people track their finances simply. I am sure, in the near future, Truebill or other similar Fintech apps will play a huge role in people’s lives, as more people start relying on technology, especially for their finances. Rocket Companies brilliantly purchased Truebill for a fair price, and they now have another source of high potential revenue. Venture Capitalists should see many potential benefits from investing in Fintech startups, as the world adapts to life online, and investors are bound to be successful. As we move to a more remote world, Truebill gives people the opportunity to easily track their finances and adjust to the new Fintech reality.