BillShrink.com
by CI Staff
BillShrink.com is unlike the websites usually featured in our Sitelight area. As the name suggests, the site attempts to provide you with the best rates on credit cards, savings accounts and CDs, as well as help you lower your bills for gas, wireless and television (television currently in beta).
Choosing credit cards, wireless services and bank accounts can be time-consuming and frustrating. BillShrink.com pulls data from a multitude of sources to present you with a list of your best options. For example, if you provide BillShrink.com with the amount of your monthly purchases, credit rating, spending categories, and current primary card, and indicate whether you pay off your bill every month, the website will generate a list of credit cards that offer the best rewards and credit card rates. You are further able to specify the types of rewards and benefits that interest you.
The website works in a similar fashion to calculate your best rates on gas, savings accounts and CDs, television and wireless phone service. Simply enter your home and work addresses and the type of car you drive, and the website will display the most cost-efficient gas stations around your location. BillShrink.com calculates your miles per gallon and gasoline type and shows all recommended gas stations on a map. Likewise, entering the amount you have saved, the amount of cash you want as a reserve and your monthly savings allows BillShrink.com to provide you with the best savings options and their rates. Wireless and television also require you to answer several general questions in order for the site to list your best options. You can further stipulate preferences for each section in order to generate more specific results.
In order to provide the most appropriate data, BillShrink.com uses several factors when ranking results. For wireless plans, the site ranks plans as a function of how much the plans cost and the quality of the carriers. For credit cards, BillShrink.com separates consumers into those who pay off their cards each month and those who tend to carry a balance. Doing this allows the site to target rewards above interest rates for those who pay off their balance monthly, and vice versa for those who tend to carry a balance. When providing low-cost recommendations for gas stations, the site automatically computes the real-dollar cost of going out of your way to visit a particular gas station. If you enter your home and work locations, BillShrink.com can effectively provide you with the “true cost,” including gas spent going on a detour, of filling up at each separate station.
Overall, I found BillShrink.com to be beneficial and user-friendly. The wireless section is able to extract your usage directly from an online account and does not require you to manually answer questions. Whether you’re unhappy with your current bills and rates or just browsing for new selections, BillShrink.com should make your overall experience easier.
Price: Free