By Rory Joyce
Building on the success and momentum of Karma Drive, Intuit Credit Karma’s usage-based insurance product, we’re pleased to announce that Intuit is planning to acquire technology and assets from mobility risk intelligence provider Zendrive – the technology behind Karma Drive. Certain Zendrive employees, including Co-founder and CTO Pankaj Risbood and CEO Dennis Ellis, will join the Credit Karma family to help us scale our telematics experience, at a time when insurance costs have increased dramatically – 22% increase YoY – and Americans are struggling to stay on top of driving expenses.
Together, we’ll accelerate innovation and provide auto insurance discounts to more Americans, ultimately helping people save money on their car insurance by becoming safer drivers.
Credit Karma launched Karma Drive more than three years ago to make usage-based insurance more accessible to Americans in a way that brings more transparency, fairness, and accuracy to their auto insurance expenses. Members can participate in a trial where they receive real-time feedback on their driving and can view potential discounts before purchasing a policy, all powered by telematics. Bringing discount opportunities to the front of the insurance shopping experience, before members purchase a policy, gives them choice and certainty as to what they will pay, while incentivizing them to become safer drivers. To date, Karma Drive has enrolled more than 6 million members in the program, which has yielded more than 4 million discounted policy offers from partnering insurance carriers.
We see opportunities to improve traditional telematics practices that lock consumers into a policy and track driving behaviors in a way that can potentially increase policy costs. We have redefined and simplified consumers’ access to insurance discounts based on mobile telematics data. Karma Drive users can see if they can qualify for a discount from carriers without having to buy a policy or even engage directly with the insurer.
In true Credit Karma fashion, we deliver actionable insights and feedback to help members understand and improve their driving, just like we do their credit. As the go-to destination for consumers to track their driving score, Karma Drive members frequently visit the Credit Karma app for rich and always-on insight into their driving behaviors, even after they’ve secured a policy discount.
As we embark on this next phase of our journey to bring more choice, transparency, and personalization to the insurance space, we look forward to ushering in a new era of safe driving, while democratizing access to fair insurance for all Americans.
Intuit closed the acquisition of Zendrive on July 11, 2024.