Hiatus

Hiatus is a New York-based consumer financial technology company that helps individuals identify and manage recurring subscriptions and bills. Users link a bank account, after which the service detects paid recurring subscriptions — including charges the user may have forgotten — and notifies them before each auto-payment. Users can then cancel a subscription through the service by phone, email or directly on the Hiatus website, depending on the cancellation method the billing company requires.

In February 2017 the company added a bill negotiation product built on the premise that consumers overpay for monthly services. After receiving authorization to act on a user's behalf, Hiatus contacts service providers to obtain a lower price on the user's existing plan without reducing the level of service, for example keeping the same channel package on a Verizon subscription at a reduced price. During a six-week beta, the tool succeeded for 93% of users, who saved an average of $137 per year. Planned product work at the time included in-app payment of subscriptions and bills, an Android application, and additional tools intended to support consumer financial decision-making.

Internal records also associate the Hiatus name with a platform for wealth management to build, manage and scale private market investments.

Business model

Hiatus offers a consumer-facing subscription tracking and cancellation service tied to a linked bank account, and layers paid savings services on top of it, beginning with bill negotiation performed on the user's behalf with service providers.

For bill negotiation, Hiatus charges half of the savings achieved in the first year, payable upfront or in monthly installments as savings are realized. If the bill is not reduced, the user pays nothing.

Traction

Over roughly two years the company analyzed $2.5 billion of transactions from users who connected bank accounts and was managing $50 million of yearly subscriptions. Its data showed Ancestry, Experian and Tidal as the three most-cancelled accounts, with 10.9% of Ancestry accounts cancelled after being surfaced to a Hiatus user. The bill negotiation beta worked for 93% of participants, saving an average of $137 per year.

Latest developments

In February 2017 Hiatus launched its bill negotiation tool and raised $1.2 million in seed funding, which it said would be used to hire engineering talent, accelerate an Android launch targeted for April 2017, and build features including in-app bill and subscription payment.