South Africans can now instantly compare 26 financial products from 106 financial institutions to be able to save money and to chose the products which best suits their needs. These range from loans (including personal and student loans), cheque accounts and debit cards all the way through to foreign exchange and unit trusts and the number and range of products is growing.
Fincheck.co.za is modelled on the successful tech start-up Moneysupermarket.com, a British price-comparison website. Fincheck.co.za is simple to use and is totally independent and unbiased. It provides transparent, impartial and accurate facts and figures about similar financial services products on offer from various financial services institutions. Fincheck.co.za is free for consumers.
South Africans generally have low levels of financial literacy and high levels of indebtedness. Many are paying a substantial portion of their disposable incomes simply to meet their financial obligations – often to loan sharks and Ponzi schemes.
Michael Bowren, CEO explains that Fincheck.co.za was developed to make financial information easy to understand and different financial products on offer in the market easy to compare. “Fincheck means that consumers no longer have to go to several websites to obtain information about the financial service or product they are looking for, where each website presents product information differently and in a way that is difficult to understand, never mind compare with another institutions’ products. Consumers can get everything they need from our portal to make a quick comparison which best suits their needs and pockets.”
“We gather information from South African lenders, banks, unit trusts and other financial services partners and present it in a clear and uncomplicated format on Fincheck.co.za. No other South African website gathers as in depth information or works as closely with registered financial and accredited services partners,” says Bowren.
Says Bowren: “We feel very strongly about helping ordinary citizens so that they can move from being in debt to saving a little each month. We want to help them along that process, and ultimately, coach and support them into a position where they can start investing.”
Fincheck is the brainchild of Bowren and Christopher Ball who is Fincheck’s Chief Innovation Officer.
South Africans’ poor financial knowledge can be attributed to poor financial education. Fincheck.co.za also provides extensive education on its portal to help consumers become more financially literate. There are basic information tools such as that of Imali Life, which is presented as a cartoon. There are also informative tips and an easy-to-read blog with authoritative content about saving, borrowing, investing and more. It promotes understanding of financial products and terms.
