Credit Sesame Launches Web's First Credit Badge™ Program

Free badges authenticate identities and certify good financial standing, enhance personal brands, and encourage trusted online interactions and transactions

Program promotes financial responsibility

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Credit Sesame

Sep 20, 2011, 10:00 ET

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Credit Sesame (www.creditsesame.com), the fast-growing personal finance website that brings the power of bank analytics directly to consumers, today launched its Credit Badge™ program at the FinovateFall 2011 Conference in New York City. As the web's first ever financial "badge" program, the totally free and secure Credit Badge™ rewards financially responsible individuals with specialty badges that certify to the world his or her financial responsibility and credit worthiness, providing a real edge in achieving career, business, or personal goals.

When individuals sign into Credit Sesame to receive their free credit score and have their debt and loans analyzed and optimized, Credit Sesame's patent pending Credit Badge™ program and advanced analytic and monitoring engine authenticates an individual's identity and awards them with free certified badges that they can share with friends and colleagues.

Just as companies have long demonstrated their good business standing and security by posting logos from BBB, VeriSign, and Trust-e on their webpages, individuals now can display their trustworthiness through Credit Sesame's unique new program. The Credit Badge™ was designed for consumers to embed their badge in their email signature, on social media sites, and on personal websites and profiles.

"Online profiles do a good job of communicating a person's job experience, or their personal likes, but they fall short in providing essential information about whether that individual is financially responsible or trustworthy at a time when this matters more than ever," said Adrian Nazari, founder and CEO of Credit Sesame. "The Credit Badge™ fills that critical information gap by validating the users' good financial standing—a true competitive advantage for responsible individuals, whether applying for a job, transacting business online, or even meeting the love of your life on a dating site!"

Possible applications for Credit Sesame's certified Credit Badge™ include:

Jobseekers looking to stand out from the crowd and have a 3rd party validation of their financial trustworthiness.
Employers searching to identify the most responsible and suitable candidates.
Online sellers on sites like eBay and Craigslist looking for 3rd party validation.
Dating Site Members looking to set themselves apart and validate their identity.
Financial Professionals looking to display their personal financial good sense and responsibility, a sign of reliability and trust.
Renters looking to convey their financial responsibility and gain an edge in a competitive real estate market.
Anyone looking to certify their good financial standing and trustworthy reputation.

In a time when being financially responsible is more important than ever, Credit Sesame's free and secure Credit Badge™ program monitors and measures creditworthiness (e.g., a good score) and financial fitness (e.g., an optimized credit portfolio) of individuals and rewards them with specialty badges illustrating financial responsibility. The badges are private by default but can be easily shared by the users.

Current badge levels include:

Member – This badge certifies that you are a verified member of CreditSesame.com and are committed to be more financially responsible by actively managing your credit and loans online.
GOOD Credit – This badge certifies that you are a verified member of CreditSesame.com with a Good credit rating.
EXCELLENT Credit – This badge certifies that you are a verified member of CreditSesame.com with an Excellent credit rating.
Credit GURU – This badge certifies that you are a verified member of CreditSesame.com with an Excellent credit rating and a completely optimized loan and debt portfolio.

"With our Credit Badge™ program, we're employing sophisticated game mechanics to encourage consumers to better understand and improve their credit," added Nazari. "Our goal is for the Credit Badge™ program to create more financially-savvy consumers who are better equipped to succeed in all areas of life," added Nazari.

Credit Sesame

Credit Sesame brings the power of bank analytics to you. It is a personal finance tool that provides a free credit score and the best options to restructure debt and save money on loans. With our powerful financial technology—comparable to what banks use to optimize profits on their lending products—you can see how lenders' actually see you, understand how to improve your credit and know what options are truly available. Once you sign up, Credit Sesame proactively monitors market changes and your financial picture to deliver just in time alerts and product recommendations that maximize your savings. We provide unbiased, personalized recommendations for savings so that you can get control of your finances, borrow smarter and monitor your credit and debt online. For more information visit www.creditsesame.com

All information provided by the Credit Sesame Credit Badge™ program (the "Program") is for general, personal information purposes only and is not intended for legal purposes. Program badges and certificates are granted based on the information available to Credit Sesame from the individual's credit report (or excerpts thereof) as of the most recent date pulled by Credit Sesame prior to the date of grant of the badge or certificate in question and other financial information. Credit Sesame takes reasonable efforts to obtain updates of this information from time to time but the information is subject to change at any time without any notice to the individual, Credit Sesame or any third party. While Credit Sesame makes reasonable efforts to assure that the Program is functioning properly, Credit Sesame makes no warranty or claim of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, timeliness, availability, suitability or usefulness of any information provided by the Program for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk and you agree that Credit Sesame and its data providers shall be held harmless from and shall not be subject to liability or any loss or damage (including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits) arising out of, or in connection with, information provided via the Program, even if advised in advance of the possibility of such damages.

SOURCE Credit Sesame