Revolutionary New Financial Website Actually Puts Customer Needs Before Profit!

Dec. 4, 2008 - PRLog -- Launching a radical new financial services website in the face of the tsunami that has swept away so many of the world’s leading financial institutions could suggest its creator is very brave, or quite barmy – or on to something.

Bear in mind that Independent Financial Adviser Ray Black’s new website, Money Minder Online (www.money-minder.com ) also has the potential to unsettle and upstage the likes of MoneySupermarket.com and ComparetheMarket.com – the giants of the online finance market – and you have the added spice of a David v Goliath battle in the making.

Ray’s financial slingshot is based on the fatal flaw found in all price comparison sites – that they will sell you the product that comes out cheapest, regardless of whether or not it suits your needs. Buying the wrong product is a bad bargain, at any price.

Says Ray: “After witnessing the meltdowns in some of the UK’s largest and best-known financial institutions, consumer trust is at an all-time low, yet the need for sound independent financial advice has never been greater. Millions of people are finding it harder to make their money last until the end of the month, and finding it harder to know how best to safeguard their hard-earned savings, pensions and investments.

The Financial Services Authority’s RDR has been questioning how to make the public aware of the difference between financial advice and pitching for sales. The last round of consultation also suggested that there is room for a middle ground, referred to as ‘guided sales’.

And Ray has invested four years’ work in designing a revolutionary new website feature called the Finance Navigator (see www.money-minder.com/finance.navigator.jsp ), an ingenious, interactive diagnostic tool that questions surfers on their needs and guides them to the most suitable products.

“What’s at the heart of it is that we want to stop people mis-buying online, which as the Financial Services Authority is well aware, has been going on for years,” says Ray.

“My site lifts the lid off that, and I think it could really change how people buy financial services nationally. It’s going to upset some major players in the market place because it undermines what they do, which is just sell what’s cheap. This site does that extra bit more.

“It’s not just giving information. All these websites give information. There’s information coming out of your ears on the internet, on any subject you want.

“But to actually focus that down to a point where you can make a decision, where you can go somewhere that channels your research down to find something that works best for you, that is a lot harder.”

Says Ray: “The major advantage is that users can get a personalised written report compiled by experts and delivered to their inbox automatically at any time of night or day, without needing to actually meet an adviser. They can read the report and fully consider what they need.

“Comparison sites and discount broker’s sites are sales sites. I didn’t want to build a discount broker’s site that allowed people to buy the wrong products” says Ray, 40, whose company is based in Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

“But this takes what is available online to another level. Users can register free and the answers they give Finance Navigator will divert they to the areas that are right for them.

“It asks questions that I would normally ask myself in an interview room, so it’s like putting that expertise on to the internet, where it’s accessible 24 hours a day.”

If you tell Finance Navigator that you’re interested in buying Income Protection, but your answers reveal that Mortgage Protection actually meets your needs better, it will send you down that route. Price comparison sites, on the other hand, will sell you what you ask for – whether it’s the right product or not.

The free report is valued at £300 – what it could cost you to go through a similar process when paying a financial adviser who might sit in your home for several hours, drinking your coffee and eating your biscuits.

With the turmoil that has hit financial markets, there’s never been a greater need for guidance to help people find the right products.

Says Ray: “What we’ve had so far in the world of financial websites is nothing more than ‘Which is the cheapest?’ But when was the last time you went to the shop and bought the cheapest, knowing it was the best?”

...ends

About Finance Navigator:

•   Is revolutionary as it is the first move towards a personalised financial service being delivered entirely online.

•   Is an addition to the existing Money Minder website that brings unique online interactive consumer information and an instant quote system for financial products.

•   Provides totally bespoke solutions for the user based on information they have provided through an easy-to-navigate- online questionnaire.

•   Provides free bespoke financial reports for the user worth more than £300 each.

•   Provides the user with choice and comparisons of the best financial products which suit their needs.

•   Allows users to build a financial relationship with the website by answering questions and receiving their own bespoke solutions.

•   Allows users to apply online for their chosen products and thereby benefit from online application premium discounts.

•   Also allows users to opt for telephone advice or arrange a face-to-face meeting with a Money Minder Associate Adviser, with proportionate reduced application discounts.

•   Is NOT a price comparison website!

•   Offers consumers products from the whole of market.

Finance Navigator products currently include:

•   Life assurance / life insurance
•   Income protection
•   Critical illness
•   Mortgage protection

# # #

About Money Minder:

Based in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, Money Minder Financial Services was founded in 1999 by Ray and Karron Black. Since then the business has expanded by building a sound reputation, delivering financial information and products by a team of highly-qualified personnel.

The company ethos has always focused on high-quality, jargon free, impartial advice to help customers make balanced and informed decisions about their financial future. Money Minder continues to be committed to providing exceptional customer service, helping clients understand the different options that are available to them through its IFAs and the introduction of Finance Navigator.