One of the first decisions Channing and I made when we started Plenty, was that it would not be “free”. We’d have a membership model: $200/year/couple + 0.20% investing fee. Our goal was to be transparent about when and how we made money. Like Costco, if Costco only sold Kirkland products: quality, cheaper products conveniently in 1 place.
Fast forward, Intuit shuts down Mint after a $170M acquisition and 20M+ lifetime users. Many folks are asking why? To understand a company's success or failure, I've always believed in the importance of following the money.
I pull out my old research on the business models behind referring credit card vs. loan products, what kind of $’s are up for grabs, the $ and cents behind account aggregation, and what the true price of free often is.
Some of the key findings:
> Loan products like student loans / auto loans can generate 10-20x more revenue than a credit card referral
> Credit Karma was a materially more profitable business for Intuit than Mint
> “Seeing all your accounts in one place” for today’s couples can cost a platform as much as $69 per year
You can keep reading on my blog post here: https://lnkd.in/g_ZGwVb5
If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
