Verivox

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Verivox

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1998
Seat Heidelberg , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management
  • Daniel Puschmann
  • Martin Betzwieser
Number of employees around 500
sales 127 million euros (2017)
Branch Price comparison and contract brokerage
Website www.verivox.de

Verivox is a German company that operates comparison portals and acts as an agent for contracts. The service provider is one of the largest providers in Germany in the area of ​​tariff comparisons.

Verivox offers tariff comparisons for telecommunications, electricity, gas, insurance, banking products, vehicles and commission-free real estate. Verivox is usually remunerated by the contractors (e.g. service providers, insurance companies or financial service providers) with commissions for brokering contracts .

history

The consumer portal was founded in 1998 in Heidelberg by Andrew Goodwin and Nikolaus Starzacher and started with a focus on telecommunications. In 1999, Goodwin's cousin Alexander Preston joined the company. After the liberalization of the energy market, the electricity sector was added in 2000 and the gas sector in 2005. At the end of 2005, Starzacher gave up the position of managing director.

In 2007, the company set itself up internationally. Starzacher and two other shareholders, Stefan and Robert Herr, sold their 71.4 percent stake in the Irish media group Independent News & Media (INM) for a total of 2.8 million euros . Preston and Goodwin also sold to INM, but received no money for it, but a 25.5% stake in the buying company.

In 2008 i12 GmbH (operator of the platforms tarife.de, onlinekosten.de, strom-magazin.de and sphone.de) and Maximilian Online Media GmbH (operator of the platforms stromseite.de, billiger-surfen.de and cheaper-telefonieren) .de), both companies are based in Linden, Hesse. In December 2009, the private British investment company Oakley Capital acquired INM's 51% majority stake, and the two company founders have since held a combined 49% (24.5% each) in Verivox.

In 2010 Goodwin moved to the supervisory board, in 2012 Preston. In May 2012 Chris Öhlund became the new CEO of the Verivox Group (Verivox Holdings, London), Klaus Hufnagel is Managing Director of the German Verivox GmbH.

From 2012 Verivox gradually expanded its product portfolio: There were also tariff comparisons for motor insurance, loans, overnight and fixed-term deposits, checking accounts, credit cards and deposits. Real estate, cars, statutory health insurance, other personal and property insurance as well as heating electricity followed later.

In 2014 Verivox bought the brands transparo and aspect-online as well as the shares in the competitor TopTarif from Holtzbrinck Digital and Rocket Internet . On June 25, 2015, Verivox was taken over by ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE with an 80 percent share of the capital, while Oakley Capital initially held the rest. In February 2018, ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG's newly founded NCG - NuCom Group - acquired the outstanding minority interests from Oakley Capital and increased its stake in Verivox to almost 100 percent.

In November 2017, Verivox bought the Outbank banking app. The subscription alarm termination portal was also taken over.

In 2018, the cessation of operations of the two acquired companies preis24.de and TopTarif became known. Both companies had suffered economic losses. In September 2018, Verivox also took over the brokerage business of the start-up Getsafe.

Jörn Taubert has been the new CEO of the Verivox Group since January 2019 .

organization

Verivox is mainly present in Germany with the price comparison portal Verivox.de . The subsidiary i12 GmbH in Linden operates, among other things, the electricity magazine , Handytarife.de , onlinekosten.de and Tarif.de . The subsidiary Maximillian Online Media GmbH, also based in Linden, operates the portals billiger-telefonieren.de , billiger-surfen.de and stromseite.de . In May 2014, the brand of the car insurance comparison portal transparo.de , which was abandoned by HUK-Coburg, was acquired. In July 2014, Toptarif.de was taken over by Holtzbrinck Digital GmbH.

Awards

Verivox received the following awards, among others:

  • 2019: Test winner of the study Germany's Best Online Portals in the Universal Comparison Calculator category by the German Institute for Service Quality (DISQ) on behalf of n-tv
  • 2018: Test winner energy tariff calculator (quality rating very good) according to the DISQ study
  • 2015: Test winner of the study comparing portals for motor insurance from DISQ
  • 2013: Test winner at DISQ in the energy tariff calculator category with first places in the service and price sub-areas
  • 2013: Test winner Stiftung Warentest (overall grade 2.6 - satisfactory; see section criticism ).
  • 2010: Innovationspreis-IT 2010 of the Initiative Mittelstand under the patronage of the Fraunhofer IUK Technology Group
  • 2008: Test winner Stiftung Warentest with very good
  • 2008: Öko-Test test winner for the electricity tariff calculator

According to its own information, the company is TÜV- tested.

criticism

Its independence was called into question in 2011 because it is said to have made some money with hidden commissions that it receives from brokered providers. Verivox denies this. The transparency is given by its publication and explanation of the list of all partners in the field of energy supply companies.

In mid-2011, Verivox was accused by the Handelsblatt that it had known early on of Teldafax's payment difficulties before the bankruptcy and that Teldafax passed on prices from competitors so that Teldafax could set its prices in such a way that it almost always performed best in comparison to Verivox. Verivox denied the allegations and sensed an act of revenge by expensive providers.

A criminal case initiated by the provider Flexstrom in this connection was discontinued by the Mannheim public prosecutor . The Federation of Energy Consumers declared the criticism excessive. At the end of 2011, Flexstrom sued Verivox because Verivox did not include a bonus promised to customers in the prices. The company defended itself by stating that the bonus was only promised, but in several thousand cases there were complaints that it had not been paid. In July 2013, the Heidelberg Regional Court ruled in favor of Verivox and dismissed the lawsuit. In the course of the legal dispute, Verivox discontinued the partnership with Flexstrom, but continued to display their tariffs if “consumers consciously decide to also display tariffs that do not comply with the Verivox guidelines on consumer protection”.

In 2012, the Heidelberg Regional Court dismissed a claim for damages by five former co-shareholders who had sold their shares in 2006 for 2.72 million euros. They claimed the company left them in the dark about future expectations at the time. Your shares were worth 290 million euros.

In February 2013, Stiftung Warentest criticized the default settings of the electricity tariff comparison portals. Even if Verivox scored the best with a grade of 2.6 (satisfactory), misleading comparisons and a lack of independence were also criticized here. Verivox now also offers a tariff comparison based on the recommendations of Stiftung Warentest.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Verivox: About us . Verivox.de, accessed on February 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b c Imprint . Verivox.de.
  3. ↑ Flexstrom sues Verivox - Verivox cuts contract . derwesten.de , December 20, 2011, accessed on February 24, 2013.
  4. ↑ Check24 is pushing into bank sales . ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Financial Times Deutschland , May 29, 2012, accessed on February 24, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / m.ftd.de
  5. ↑ Heinz-Roger Dohms, Anja Krüger: What comparison portals do - and what not . Stern.de , May 31, 2012, accessed February 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ Stefan Schultz: Season 2013: How to avoid the heating cost trap . Spiegel online , April 3, 2012, accessed February 24, 2013.
  7. ↑ Relaunch of Verivox: Now with electricity tariffs and news. In: verivox.de. May 30, 2000, accessed December 23, 2018 .
  8. ↑ [1]
  9. ↑ [2]
  10. ↑ verivox.de
  11. ↑ : Chris Öhlund new CEO at Verivox . Verivox, May 4, 2012.
  12. ↑ About us - Verivox introduces itself! Retrieved December 4, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Takeover - Verivox buys Pro Sieben . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of June 26, 2015 . Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  14. ↑ Amorelie, Verivox, Parship: Pro-Sieben-Sat.1 is becoming even more digital . In: t3n of February 23, 2018 . Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  15. ↑ Announcement on the Outbank homepage
  16. ↑ Verivox takes over subscription alarm termination portal. November 10, 2017, accessed October 11, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Verivox closes sales subsidiaries Preis24 and TopTarif . In: WiWo . Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  18. ↑ Verivox takes over large parts of Getsafe. Retrieved June 5, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Getsafe becomes an underwriter for 10-15 “own” products; Verivox takes over brokerage. Retrieved June 5, 2019 .
  20. ↑ Sonos Manager becomes the new head of the comparison portal. Retrieved February 24, 2019 .
  21. ↑ The online magazines of the i12 - compare, save and be good! . In: i12 of November 23, 2018 . Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  22. ↑ Verivox takes over majority shares in TopTarif. Verivox, accessed June 11, 2016.
  23. ↑ Germany's best online portals: Universal comparison calculator category. Retrieved October 11, 2019 .
  24. ↑ n-tv NEWS: Energy tariff calculator being tested. Retrieved October 11, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Study of motor vehicle insurance portals - large differences in tariff comparison . In: German Institute for Service Quality , January 15, 2015.
  26. ↑ Test of comparison portals - These calculators find the best electricity and gas tariffs . In: Focus Online , September 24, 2013.
  27. ↑ Best comparison portal in the field of energy
  28. ↑ a b Stiftung Warentest: Electricity tariff calculator: No comparison portal is good . In: test 3/2013, pp. 60–65 and test.de from February 21, 2013.
  29. ^ Stiftung Warentest: Test of electricity tariff calculators . In: test 9/2008, pp. 65-69 and test.de from September 12, 2008.
  30. ↑ Certifications from Verivox. Verivox, accessed April 19, 2012.
  31. ↑ Non- transparent prices . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 2011 ( online ).
  32. ↑ Sönke Iwersen, Jürgen Flauger: Customers are outraged about Verivox . In: Handelsblatt , September 19, 2011. Accessed February 24, 2013.
  33. ↑ Verivox: Our business partners ( Memento of the original from June 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 5, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.verivox.de
  34. ↑ a b Verivox: Request for correction of the Wikipedia article from May 8, 2012.
  35. ↑ Teldafax scandal: Verivox defends itself against accusations of unclean business . Spiegel Online , September 16, 2011, accessed February 24, 2013.
  36. ^ Heidelberg public prosecutor's office, 320 Js 28010/11.
  37. ↑ TelDaFax: Criminal charges against Verivox ( memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sw-unna.de
  38. ↑ In connection with TelDaFax: criminal complaint against verivox. In: themenportal.de. January 9, 2012, archived from the original on July 5, 2012 ; Retrieved July 5, 2012 .
  39. ^ Prosecutor Mannheim, AZ 628 Js 3889/12
  40. ^ Association of Energy Consumers : Criticism of Verivox exaggerated. dated September 21, 2011.
  41. ↑ Verivox comparison portal was allowed to show Flexstrom a red card - court confirms consumer protection guidelines . The world online
  42. ↑ FlexStrom is suing Verivox . In: Handelsblatt , December 20, 2011, accessed on February 24, 2013.
  43. ↑ The court rejects the claim for damages against Verivox . The world
  44. ↑ spiegel.de
  45. ↑ Electricity price comparison according to Stiftung Warentest .
  46. ↑ Electricity tariff calculator: Verivox adopts financial test criteria .