Moneyfacts Group Explained

Moneyfacts
Type:Financial services
Foundation:1988
Location City:Norwich, Norfolk
Location Country:UK
Key People:John Woods (Founder & Executive Chairman), Vicki Poole (Finance Director)
Num Employees:over 80
Homepage:

Moneyfacts Group Plc is a financial information company founded in 1988[1] based in Norwich in the United Kingdom, employing over 80 people.

History

Moneyfacts was founded in 1988 by John Woods, who led the financial industry group which was established in Norwich. The first school of financial services outside London. He received an honorary doctor of civil law from the UEA.[2] Moneyfacts was first launched as a six-page monthly fact sheet that brought personal finance products together to allow for comparison. This has since expanded to a range of magazines: Moneyfacts (personal finance products); Business Moneyfacts (business finance products); and Investment Life & Pensions Moneyfacts (pension and investment products). Moneyfacts now provides a range of financial product information services, including a price comparison website (Moneyfactscompare.co.uk), product analyzer systems, treasury reports, executive reports, industry awards, and product star ratings. The brand has grown rapidly and is known throughout the UK as the independent and unbiased source of financial information.[3] Moneyfacts Data is used throughout the UK financial industry. It is used by the Bank of England,[4] Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Ombudsman Service, HM Treasury, Prudential Regulatory Authority, UK Finance and The Building Societies Association and, by virtually every bank and building society in the UK, it also powers other UK financial comparison websites.

Product chronology

Activities

Moneyfacts' main activities are:[5]

Additional activities

Controversies

In 2004, its rival Moneysupermarket.com paid Moneyfacts £3.9 million in an out of court settlement to settle a dispute of alleged intellectual property theft. At the time, Moneysupermarket was going public at a price between £864 million and £1.05 billion, and it was thought best to resolve the issue beforehand.[20]

In 2007, the “best buy” tables used in the UK press were criticized by Mike Lazenby, the then 'maverick'[21] CEO of the Kent Reliance Building Society, for not reflecting the products which offered the best long-term value, with Moneyfacts bearing the brunt of the criticism. The main objections were:[22]

The historic issue was that some non-subscribers tended not to volunteer their data within the time required. With the benefit of more widely available digital data, this is no longer an issue. To resolve the issue of product providers manipulating submissions by introductory bonuses, Moneyfacts now produces its tables in versions with and without these bonuses.

Subsequently, in 2013, Moneyfacts were praised in the Sunday Times,[23] which highlighted that Moneyfacts.co.uk always lists the genuine best buy products for its customers regardless of any financial arrangements with product providers, whilst other comparison websites were found to purely recommend financial products on a commercial basis.

Notes and References

  1. Moneyfacts: About us
  2. Web site: News - UEA. 2019-10-11. 2019-10-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20191011113834/https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/media-room/press-release-archive/-/asset_publisher/a2jEGMiFHPhv/content/degrees-of-celebration. live.
  3. The West Morland Gazette: Second award for Cumbrian building society
  4. Bank of England: Bank of England Statement of Administrative Data Sources
  5. Moneyfacts Group: Products and Services
  6. Moneyfacts: Magazine Subscriptions
  7. Moneyfacts Group: Awards
  8. The Telegraph: Regular winners in surveys and banking beauty contests
  9. Alexa: moneyfacts
  10. The Observer: Cashpoints
  11. News: 2023-06-26 . Banks being slow to pass on savings rates - Hunt . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-07-19.
  12. Web site: Fixed mortgage rates largely unchanged despite shock interest rise . 2023-07-19 . Sky News . en.
  13. Web site: Bank of England hikes interest rate to 5% in highest figure in almost 15 years . 2023-07-19.
  14. News: Evans . Tara . 2016-08-04 . What the Bank Rate cut means for your savings . en-GB . The Telegraph . 2023-07-19 . 0307-1235.
  15. News: Wright . Melanie . Collinson . Patrick . 2016-03-12 . Personal savings allowance changes: should I still get a cash Isa? . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-07-19 . 0261-3077.
  16. FCA: Cash Savings Market Study
  17. Bank of England: Financial Stability Report
  18. Web site: Read . Simon . Moneyfacts rebrands as Moneyfactscompare . 2023-07-19 . www.financialplanningtoday.co.uk . en-gb.
  19. https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2024/04/24/moneyfacts-brings-out-market-information-tool-for-banks-and-building-societies/
  20. The Telegraph Moneysupermarket paid rival £3.9m
  21. Mortgage Strategy: Twist at the end of society soap
  22. BBC: Attack on money 'best buy' tables
  23. Sunday Times: Best deal is one zat pays us. Simples!

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