BankRate Acquires NetQuote and CreditCards.com Lead Generation Firms
It was confirmed last week that BankRate.com has acquired NetQuote.com as well as CreditCard.com. It is reported that BankRate paid $205 million to buy NetQuote, the leader in insurance lead generation industry. CreditCards.com is a leading online credit card marketplace, bringing consumers and card issuers together. CreditCards.com is acquired for $145 million by BankRate.
While BankRate is well known player in the lead generation industry, NetQuote and CreditCards.com are equally popular in their own verticals. Note that BankRate owns InsureMe.com, another player in the insurance lead industry.
What does this mean to the lead buyers in the insurance and credit card verticals? Will it increase the lead prices in the long term? Does it lead to another mega company stifling innovation and flexibility? Only time can provide answers to these questions. Obvious positive benefit would be the addition of legitimacy to the online lead generation industry.
Banks acquisition cost will go very high down the road. Banks will need to find cheaper way to acquire new customers online. Bankrate has spend over 240 million on acquire sites in credit card vertical in the last 3 year.