Business Awards, 10 November 2001
Business & Finance Echo, 3 July 2001
International Journal of New Product Development & Innovation Management, January 2001
Echo Business Awards, 30 October 2000
FT yourmoney.com, 20 October2000
Design Council, September 2000
Investors In People Magazine, Autumn 2000
CIM Marketing West, Summer 2000
CIM Marketing Business, Dec/Jan 2000
Daily Telegraph, 6 September 1999
Business & Finance Echo, 17 June 1999
Gloucestershire Echo, 2 February 1999
Independent on Sunday, 10 January 1999
From Business Awards, 10 November 2001
'Wise to ways of the net!'
WISEMONEY.COM's marketing strategy is so hot it's even doing business in places where it isn't marketing!
An on-line broker sourcing highly competitive mortgages, loans and insurances for it's clients, it has had to innovate to move forward during the all- out war currently waging between the internet finance companies. As an independent company, WiseMoney.com knew from the start that it would have to rely on its ingenuity rather than big budgets.
And as an independent, Wisemonye.com knew from the outsethat it would have to rely on guile rather than big budgets.
"The big- name companies have been throwing loads of money into establishing brand names- and one firm has spent £40 million in the past three months alone", according to Wisemoney.com's managing director Simon Dye.
So his company, one of the finalists of the Excellence in Marketing Award, set out to win on brain power.
"We couldn't compete by matching the competition's spending to raise WIsemoney.com's profile so we stood the whole thing on its head."
In a shrewd and comparatively low- cost move, WiseMoney.com bought more than 300 website addresses, such as www.feesfreemortgage.com, www.1click-loan.com and www.equityreleaseloan.com.
"We picked website addresses featuring the words people are most likely to key into search engines. When they do, the search engines pull them through to the main Wisemoney site. Its been working so well that we've actually been able to reduce our conventional marketing spend while increasing sales. It has allowed us to go truly global."
"We're gaining significant and increasing business from the US, for example, where we're not spending anything on marketing but where a large proportion of the population is far more at ease doing business over the net than people are in this country."
The company already has 110 of its new sites live on the net, including French and Italian language versions. It is also working on Polish and German sites. "We were forced to examine our marketing from the first principles of being flexible and adaptable, and that was no bad thing. In terms of the bottom line, it ensured our survival and is now allowing us to build on strong foundations," said Dye.
From Gloucestershire Business & Finance Echo, 3 July 2001
'Wisemoney taps into worldwide web market'
A Cheltenham internet company which supplies financial services on-line is making waves on the web.
WiseMoney.com has such a successful marketing strategy that it is even finding success in places which have not been targeted. Now the firm has been nominated for the Citizen and the Echo's Excellence in Marketing Award, sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
An on-line broker sourcing highly competitive mortgages, loans and insurances for it's clients, it has had to innovate to move forward during the all- out war currently waging between the internet finance companies. As an independent company, WiseMoney.com knew from the start that it would have to rely on its ingenuity rather than big budgets.
The big- name companies have been investing large sums to establish their brand names and one firm has spent £40 million in the past three months alone, according to Wisemoney.com's managing director Simon Dye.
His company set out to win through sheer willpower and sound business sense. "We couldn't compete by matching the competition's spending to raise WIsemoney.com's profile so we stood the whole thing on its head," said Mr Dye.
In a shrewd and comparatively low- cost move, WiseMoney.com bought more than 300 website addresses, such as www.feesfreemortgage.com, www.1click-loan.com and www.equityreleaseloan.com.
Mr Dye said "We picked website addresses featuring the words people are most likely to key into search engines. When they do, the search engines pull them through to the main Wisemoney site. Its been working so well that we've actually been able to reduce our conventional marketing spend while increasing sales. It has allowed us to go truly global."
"We're gaining significant and increasing business from the US, for example, where we're not spending anything on marketing but where a large proportion of the population is far more at ease doing business over the net than people are in this country."
The company already has 110 of its new sites live on the net, including French and Italian language versions. It is also working on Polish and German sites. "We were forced to examine our marketing from the first principles of being flexible and adaptable, and that was no bad thing. In terms of the bottom line, it ensured our survival and is now allowing us to build on strong foundations," said Dye.
From 'International Journal of new Product Development & Innovation Management, published by Winthrop Publications Ltd, January 2001 Volume 2 Number 4
WISEMONEY.COM Internet Start-Up Success
This paper is based upon an interview with Simon Dye, owner of Wisemoney.com an internet company which provides consumers with a financial services search engine to find the most competitive quote for loans, insurance and mortgages. The interview traces the development of the business over the last two years and examines the challenges that face the small dot.com company now and in the future.'Wisemoney.com' is a small company whose financial services search engine provides a unique interactive website giving customers free online quotes for loans, mortgages and insurance. Simon Dye, managing director and owner of Wisemoney.com is a Chartered Marketer. Having spent most of his career in marketing he took a year out to complete an MBA. It was during this time and afterwards working as a consultant that Simon began to realise the potential advantages the Internet offered as a medium for selling financial products. As a result, after three years of development and market assessment Simon registered Wisemoney.com as a company in 1998.
Whilst working for a financial adviser, Simon explored the feasibility of selling unit-trusts online, but it soon became obvious that there were too many regulations for the idea to work successfully. Instead Simon started to look at the insurance, mortgage and loan markets and found a more viable opportunity. Although at first he felt the idea was fairly obvious, after talking the idea through with friends and business colleagues he discovered that nothing else quite like it existed. This gave Simon the confidence that there was a receptive market for the service potentially large enough for commercial success.
The mission statement for Wisemoney.com is 'to strive to provide to the customers the best value financial services on the web'. The Service aims to find the best deal in mortgages, loans and insurance to suit individual customer needs. This is provided by integrating several different special proprietary software programs which enables the users to both compare product data and purchase online. The company's competitive advantage stems from this ability to offer free and independent financial advice on a range of products without individuals spending time collating such information themselves. The company has no minimal agreements with the suppliers of products, which also ensures that their advice is independent.
In September 2000, Wisemoney.com reported 100 000 hits per month but this has since increased. Fourteen full and part time employees from a variety of career backgrounds help run the company and since June of this year the bank balance has been in profit. Operations are expanding at a fast pace and Simon is already in the process of recruiting four more employees to join the team.
Challenges: Customer Expectations and Tough Competition
Challenges that face the small internet business are set to intensify and the need to respond to the changing needs of the consumer to keep an edge over escalating competition is key. Since 1998 the number of Internet users in the UK has increased significantly and in response to this exponential growth, the number of dot com businesses has also increased considerably.'We initially started with a B2B niche with Professional Indemnity Insurance for a range of professionals in the UK. This is a limited niche but the theory was to get into the market and then expand with a range of other services. Hence our next service that was launched was Commercial Mortgages. Next came loans and then mortgages in the B2C market in the UK. This has attracted a lot more traffic and sales especially as they are a high profit per unit sale services.' Simon Dye
Both market penetration and market development strategies are combined and utilised for market growth. Wisemoney.com introduces new products to protect and maintain existing markets as well as attracting new markets. However as Simon points out, decisions are primarily based upon cost and feasibility.
'The emphasis is really on practicability & Cost Benefit Analysis- i.e. how easy is it to generate cash for the effort involved of earning that loot. The database creates the opportunity to target cross selling messages very easily & cheaply; search engines make global marketing to potential borrowers very easy as does finding potential new lenders in foreign countries.' Simon Dye
When the company began, there was little competition for Wisemoney.com, but in the last two years the situation has changed dramatically. Wisemoney.com has had to act proactively and develop the business to respond to the market changes. The company currently offers financial products from over two hundred lenders and over three hundred insurance companies and in the process of developing web sites and exploiting opportunities in fifteen other countries.
'Due to the global reach of search engine we are also getting a lot of applications from particularly the US market. We are now in the process of creating applications forms for the US market and also building other sites for French, German, Spanish, Hong Kong and another dozen or so countries in their own languages'. Simon Dye
In addition to consistently seeking out ways to improve and expand the service they provide maintaining and building up respectability and trust with their consumers is also crucial. To date, Wisemoney.com is the only loans and mortgages site that meets WHICH? online guidelines, again reassuring consumers of independent their advice. Awards and affiliations also help contribute towards brand awareness. The company also holds an 'Investor in People' award, an IFI Information E-Commerce Award, an Information Society Initiative Award and has also been granted Millennium Product status by the Design Council.
Developing the Dot Com Brand
For some smaller businesses Internet brand development can be problematic as traditional routes for advertising require high levels of investment for delivery. From experience, Simon recommends the following methods of advertising, in order of their cost effectiveness:Through the registration process it was found that when customers were asked how they found the site, 50% of respondents said they went straight on to the site using the address www.wisemoney.com. However, the company also owns over 260 domain names for satellite sites that are linked to search engines to match a variety of word phrases consumers might use to search for financial needs. As more domain sites are bought up, this is seen as a crucial way of attracting new consumers.
Strategic options also might be considered to increase brand awareness and market share. Wisemoney.com recently launched an initiative to offer free shares to all customers registering and purchasing products from the site and this has made a considerable impact.
'Since we launched our free share options offer a few weeks ago the number of people registering onto the site has increased by over 300%.' Simon Dye
Investment Options
Finding the finance to fund the running of an Internet business is considered one of the main barriers to growth and success. Start-up costs are high and can be prohibitive to any business that does not have the financial backing.
' Initially I funded the development out of my savings and cashflow from the marketing consulting that I was doing. However, it became obvious that the site needed both more time and money spent on it to make it the success that I believed that it would become, so we sold our home and moved to a smaller house and used the proceeds to bankroll current development. In purely cash terms I estimate that I have funded it to about £70K. In terms of opportunity costs it is higher again' Simon Dye
First Tuesday and the British Venture Capitalist Association were approached as avenues for future funding. Compared to most of the other companies seeking finance, Wise money was an already an attractive proposition when talks for investment began. Being a company that was up and running and in profit made it easier to convince investors of a well thought out strategy and also deterred competition.
'I initially contacted some VCs last autumn through contacts that I made at First Tuesday. During the spring & summer we hit some technical snags with the back office database that completely distracted me from fundraising. Also I felt that until we had cracked these issues that I did not really have anything worthwhile to market. Additionally, valuations of dot coms has been crazy this year- firstly sites became hugely overvalued and now they have reached far more sane levels. Luckily we also hit profitability in the summer so that took the pressure off. Now that we have cracked a lot of the IT issues and have proved the business model we have a viable business to attract funding.' Simon Dye
Design and Customisation
As competition intensifies the need to differentiate becomes more important. For Wisemoney.com the continual development of new products with a well designed, easy to understand website interface was critical.'the site must be fast to download, easy to navigate around and be visually striking to appeal to people's needs. Unfortunately in financial services there are a lot of questions and form filling, so whatever makes life easier for people'. Simon Dye
Initially a web-design agency designed the web site but now the site is maintained in house, predominantly by two employees. The web site took one year to develop before it went live to ensure the design and content was right and it was marketed properly. The site also needed to provide the opportunity for consumer feedback, comments, complaints and questions, this has proved a vital area for monitoring consumer perceptions and highlighting areas for improvement. Daily design changes are made to the site, which are usually triggered by the on-going learning and consumer suggestions.
Customer Relationships
A consultancy was considered to provide consumer research however as the team stays very close to its consumers, and it was thought that it may not be worth while. The entire history of contact with customers is recorded in the database which helps target future offers of interest. Customer comments and complaints are also monitored and this can be very useful in the development the site as explained by Simon.
'Over the weekend for some strange reason, a link to a particular file or page on our site became broken. The first that anybody here found out about it was when someone emailed us and complained. I checked the site and to my surprise the person was right. I wrote back to him thanking him for taking the time to tell us of the problem, answering his question and then telling him that something was being done about the error. I then quickly emailed our chief programmer to get him to repair the link'. Simon Dye
Wisemoney.com constantly reviews the number of people registering on the web site as a guide to market share development. The free share offer has significantly increased this number, however long-term success lies in the conversion rate from registering users to purchasing users and this is more difficult to determine.
'At the moment I guess that we are getting about 10% of our sales from repeat purchases though this is rising. However it is hard to define it that easily, because for example some people just register on the site and do not apply for anything and then go away. If, for example, they had indicted that they wanted a loan on their registration form we would follow that up with an email suggesting various loans that might be available to them. We get quite a lot of business that way, but how do you define it- new business or internally generated? Equally when someone takes out a remortgage and increases their life cover to take into account their new status is that repeat or all part of the same transaction- without the mortgage they wouldn't take the life cover' Simon Dye
To encourage repeat business on-going quotes are emailed to customers when policies are due for renewal.
'For example about 4% of the database receive an exact quote for building insurance every month, in effect we become the benchmark for the registrant's financial services'. Simon Dye
Developing Capability
As the web medium requires people to be proactive, Simon believes that consumer focus is one of the most important factors for success now and in the future and capability must be constantly developed in this area. Instead of outsourcing expertise, Wisemoney.com makes every effort where possible to ensure capabilities are developed in house to make the company more self-sufficient.Simon said it was difficult to predict the rate of growth for the company in the next year but learnt that a friend in a similar venture a year ahead than Wise money had increased staff levels from 12 - 70 within a year. Although Simon is aware of how fast the company may grow he also acknowledges the advantages being small brings.
'Friendly culture'
'Learning and training'
'Pro-active attitude'
'Flexible and responsive'
'Faster than competition'The Challenges Ahead
Simon cites connectivity as the main challenge for businesses like Wisemoney.com. At the moment customers are discouraged to use the Internet by the high charges for the time they spend on-line. Simon believes those UK regulations are driving E-commerce businesses abroad where policies are more encouraging. Little action from the Government has been made to stop the larger communications companies form controlling the progress of E-commerce.For Wise money.com , building relationships and trust with customers remains a high priority both here and oversees. Expanding operations in fifteen different countries including Austria, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Portugal, and Spain brings the further challenges of global compatibility in marketing and translation.
'I quite frequently get distracted by all of the opportunities that are out there- it has a lot to do with my theory about a financial services derivation of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.Globally, a lot of people share the same needs- they want to increase their assets and wealth, which frequently involves borrowing money, then once they have some assets they need to protect their assets through insurance. Finally once they have satisfied their baser fundamental needs they have savings and investments requirements. We are not in the latters' markets yet due to current UK regulatory requirements, but that is the way that we are heading- so that we can help people as a "one stop shop" for financial services'. Simon Dye
Throughout the development of the business two constant themes underlie the success Wise money.com has become, a positive attitude and proactive action to keep ahead.
Richelle Harun is currently undertaking a PhD at UMIST supported by EPSRC and the Design Council, researching the role of design in innovation in small companies.
From Gloucestershire Echo's Business Awards, 30 October 2000
'Staff are major asset'
A dotcom company which isn't built on the shifting sands of Stock Exchange share prices- that's Cheltenham's WiseMoney.com Ltd.
Founded on a bright idea its growth is based very much on the strengths and continuos development- of its staff. And to underscore the point it became the first dotcom company to achieve Investors In People status in March.
Investors In People magazine said "It is encouraging that this firm has adopted solid, well tested values to drive its business forward". That's deliberate. WiseMoney's managing director Simon Dye said "We're here for the future- not just a fast buck."
A finalist in the Link Group sponsored Investing In People Award, the company is an online broker sourcing insurance and mortgage services for its clients. Its interest in training and development is far from being purely altruistic. With the majority of its 20- plus staff working from their homes, they have to be of the highest quality and be highly motivated.
Mr Dye said "Although we are a technological company, people buy from people and from people that they like. That's most likely to be the case if you have a contented, loyal staff who feel they have a place and a future in the business."
Made redundant from the Saatchis' advertising agency in the 1980s, he studied for an MBA at Oxford before becoming a marketing consultant. He launched WiseMoney in 1998. "I'd been using the internet as far back as 1993 and could see the potential. It was just a question of finding the right service, that people wanted, that I could provide and make money out of.
From FT yourmoney.com, 20 October 2000
'Free share options on offer'
FANCY a few hundred free fair share options just for registering with a website? Then read on.
WiseMoney.com, an online broker for loans, mortgages and insurance, is offering 500 share options in return for your details. Okay, so we are only talking options in a business-to-consumer website - hardly the flavour of the month on the markets.
But Simon Dye, founder and managing director of the site, reckons a package of 500 options could be worth as much as £250, or 50 times their nominal value, when WiseMoney.com floats in 2001.
"We value the site at £10m, and we are giving away share options that equate to 10 per cent of that," he says. WiseMoney.com is dangling the carrot because it wants you to register, even if you don't buy anything through the site there and then. It can then contact you before your car, home and travel insurance renewal is due in an attempt to win your custom.
Anyone who does go on to buy through the website will be entitled to a further bundle of options, proportional to the size of the commission WiseMoney.com earns from your business.
The site, which has been running for two years, claims to have more than 500 lenders and insurers on board, and to have fixed up loans and mortgages totalling more than £27m.
From 'Here's to the Best of British' The book showcasing Millennium Products Published by the Design Council , September 2000
WiseMoney.com Ltd. Financial Services search engine.
A unique interactive web site that allows customers to receive the best instant online quotes and applications for loans, mortgages and insurances.
From 'Investors In People Magazine', Autumn 2000
A word to the wise: Put your money on Investors In People
There have been plenty of 'firsts' in the history of Investors In People but none quite in the class of WiseMoney, the first of the dotcom generation to gain recognition. Given the somewhat volatile image of the industry - full of bull as well as rich in promise - it is encouraging that this net-based financial products broker has adopted solid, well-tested values to driving its business forward.
The first chapter in the explosive history of the e-commerce revolution is coming to an end. Real fortunes have been made. Speculative fortunes have been lost. In the first flush of market enthusiasm for the dotcoms money was pumped in as if there was no tomorrow. But now that 'tomorrow' has arrived many of those business have proved to be will-o'-the-wisps. Venture capitalist are much more circumspect. The hype is settling down.
Ultimately, of course, it was the public who pulled the plug. Failure to shift the goods (or sometimes to respond to orders) meant that demise was inevitable. Bright ideas failed to fulfil their promise when let down by poor infrastructure.
Simon Dye, chief executive of wisemoney.com, has observed this extraordinary unfolding business drama with mixed feelings. As an ex-Saatchi & Saatchi man with a MBA and Chartered Marketer qualification he saw the potential of e-business for financial products three years ago. As an outsider he came to the industry with a fresh perspective and he fixed particularly on the idea of providing a net-based loans, mortgages and insurance brokerage service because he saw that the traditional brokers had not appreciated what the Internet could offer. By the time he started trading in September 1998 Simon was convinced that he was on to a winner. He used his own money, got the business up-and-running and began to make profits. .
"I was focused on being profitable and providing customers with a first class service - it seemed to me a simple but fail-proof business formula," he says. And he was right. Wisemoney.com was a success from the very beginning
But then the dotcom storm started to blow. Lastminute.com, jellyworks.com and other sensational headline-grabbers galvanised public interest. Simon suddenly found that he was part of a business phenomenon which was perceived by the public as being exciting but unpredictable and full of fantasists. Wisemoney was not like that - indeed quite the opposite. But Simon disliked being tainted with the same brush as the rest of the dotcom business - especially at a time when he wanted to inject more money to make the business grow.
Bringing in some venture capital has become one of Simon's current priorities. But unlike most dotcoms Simon needs the money not to set up his business but to exploit two years of success. "Some venture capitalists have been put off," says Simon, "but the success of WiseMoney speaks for itself. I'm sure we'll soon attract the investment we need."
"My original research had shown that customers wanted this kind of service," he says "and our subsequent sales figures have confirmed it. We are consistently in profit. But we now want to expand the operation to cope with demand. I need to invest more in my information technology and people and we are also about to open in fifteen other countries. That all takes money."
Marketing-Driven
Setting up Wisemoney (or something like it) had been a dream for Simon Dye. Having worked with one of the great names in advertising and with an excellent management and professional education behind him the time had come to set up on his own from his base in Cheltenham. "It was obvious that e-commerce was the place to be," he says. "It was just a matter of deciding what kind of service to sell."
Unlike many dotcomers - who have a bright idea and then wonder how it could be made commercial - Simon looked for that hole in the market and then went to plug it. The whole project has been driven by sound marketing disciplines.
"My research had shown that customers were pretty disenchanted by the service they received from their finance and insurance brokers. If they could get a better, faster service offering free great value quotes on the internet then they would support it."
Hence Wisemoney was born. And because it was a start-up and the public are rightly cautious about what they do with their money Simon was punctilious from the beginning about the way Wisemoney should operate. "We were determined to do the right thing in every way from the start," he says.
Through his service customers can be given free independent online quotes on the products of 300 companies insurance products in the fields of motor, buildings, travel, professional indemnity and so on. The service also offers advice on loans and mortgages from over 200 lenders.
Wisemoney's search engine offers entirely free quotations with no obligation to buy. Customers enter their details and they receive the lowest quote either instantly or within a matter of hours. Compared with the delays and lack of transparency of traditional insurance brokers it is a model of efficiency and integrity. No wonder that when it was scrutinised by Which?Online of the Consumers' Association and given an excellent rating.
"All the key processes of the company are designed to minimise costs and maximise savings," explains Simon. Those benefits are then passed on to the customer with Wisemoney receiving commission from the companies once a policy is taken out. The advice given by Wisemoney, however, is scrupulously impartial.
Technology which Works
At the heart of Wisemoney is its technology. The company has already received recognition as a regional finalist in the national Information Society/InterForum E-Commerce awards for 'exemplary use of electronic finance." But as Simon Dye quickly points out, the technology is only half the story. Without properly trained and motivated people operating it the service could not succeed.
"The irony is that as the technology becomes ever more critical so do the people," says Simon. "With the right investment you can buy the technology. But you have to train and develop the people to make the best use of it."
Wisemoney's emphasis on smart use of technology and people alike has led it quickly to the leading edge of people issues in modern business. It is working with the flow of social trends enabling its staff to shape their working lives around their other obligations. Currently his organisation employs fourteen people of whom most work from home. This cuts down on the overheads and it means that individual employees have scope to work at a place and a pace which suits them.
"Our staff work from home often because they have other responsibilities," explains Simon. "And as long as they turn the work round within an agreed time scale and to our quality standards it is up to them when they work."
Having a distance-based workforce (although most of them live in Gloucestershire) underlines the need for excellent communications and for shared values which allow people to use their initiative. Simon had managed staff before and was anxious not to perpetrate some of the mismanagement he had witnessed at other organisations. He was keen to have a framework of some kind to help shape his business development and people policies.
"I was drawing up a user guide for all our systems and procedures and then I came across Investors in People. I realised that I could use the Standard as the foundation for all our staff development. It was like killing two birds with one stone. I'd already looked at ISO9000 but decided that it's the staff which are really the key to the company's success, not the processes. That was why we opted for Investors in People. "
From Large to Small
The task of steering the Investors in People process was given to David McMahon who had joined Wisemoney following a career with the Caradon Mira group (owners of household names such as Twyford and Ideal Standard) which itself had made extensive use of Investors In People.
Based on his prior experience David began to build company procedures using the Standard as a blueprint. "Despite the fact that I had come from a very large organisation to a quite small one I found that the principles were just as valid and it was surprisingly easy to adapt," says David. "I had seen the benefit of Investors In People at Caradon and I was keen to see the same at Wisemoney."
Because Wisemoney.com was starting with virtually a clean sheet of paper there were no previous procedures or bad habits to be 'unlearned'. Wisemoney.com was able to get things right from the beginning.
Guided by the Standard Wisemoney now has regular staff meetings to which it brings in the people who are based at home. It publishes a routine staff newsletter; there are frequent face-to-face briefings; there is an appraisal systems; and there is systematic training. Even though staff do not see each other on a day to day basis the company works hard to generate a keen sense of involvement.
"As a company we are now starting to seriously grow," says David, "and so it is vitally important for us to have the right systems in place ahead of the period of expansion. Investors In People has enabled us to do that."
Poised on the verge of a major developments Simon is quick to acknowledge the part that Investors In People has played in enabling him to come so far and so fast. It also looks good to the venture capitalists as a sign that the company is professional about its management skills. So keep an eye on Wisemoney - one of the winners in the e-commerce revolution.
For more information on WiseMoney and its services go to www.wisemoney.com
From the 'CIM Marketing West', Summer 2000
How WiseMoney joined dotcom explosion
Chartered Marketer Simon Dye has reinvented himself several times; from working in advertising with Saatchi & Saatchi, to taking time out to study for his MBA and Diploma in Marketing, to a self- employed consultant and now to a dotcom entrepreneur.
His site, WiseMoney.com which went live 18 months ago, was the first of only two retail websites to be awarded Millennium Product status and given a unique place in the Millennium Dome.
The other site was Lastminute.com, and we all recall the starring role that site took in the stock market dotcom explosion.
Cheltenham- based Mr Dye has seen his business described by both the Department of Trade and Industry and the Design Council as "an exceptional company at the forefront of innovation and creativity".
WiseMoney.com is a free, revolutionary, independent financial services search engine handling instant online quotes and applications for financial services from deferent companies. It has an expanding range of products- which currently includes loans, mortgages and insurances. Currently there are nearly £21 million of loans and mortgages being processed.
It was whilst working as a marketing consultant that Simon first had the idea of going online. One of his clients was an independent financial adviser and they talked about selling unit trust, but discovered the regulations were, to say the least, daunting. The rules on loans, mortgages and insurance, however, were less of an obstacle and WiseMoney.com was born.
Simon commented "WiseMoney.com is still the online website selling loans and mortgages that Which? Online of the Consumers' Association has passed as meeting its standard and given a free link on Which?'s website".
From the 'Internet Magazine', April 2000
Personal finance spotlight
Personal finance is a huge growth area on the Net, and whether you're looking to save pennies or invest thousands, there's a site on the Web for you. We guide you through the best sites to ease your financial worries:
WiseMoney.com was ranked in their Top Seven websites!
Another good beginner's site. It's tidy layout explores personal loans, mortgages and the whole range of insurance coverage in straightforward terms. WiseMoney has a free financial services search engine, and registration gives you a user ID in order to apply for instant online quotes.
From the CIM's 'Marketing Business', December/ January 2000
WebWatch- Leading from the front
WiseMoney.com
A free, independent financial services search engine with access to instant online quotes for personal loans, commercial mortgages and insurances.
From the 'Daily Telegraph', 6 September 1999
Fishing for quotes on the Net
There might be some fantastic financial deals out there on the Net but surfing to find the lowest quote could end up taking longer than nipping down to the High Street to get the figures.
So Simon Dye, of Cheltenham, designed a web site - www.wisemoney.com - to speed things up as a Net broker and offer customers free independent online quotes from a range of insurance companies and lenders.
The search engine offers entirely free quotations with no obligation to buy. Customers simply enter their details and they will receive the lowest quote either instantly or within an hour or so - depending on the service.
"We've got several thousand customers already and the site is still being developed and improved in some areas," says Dye.
"We've already been vetted by Which? Online and have been given a free link on their site so this Millennium Product designation will raise awareness of the service for both customers and companies even further."
From the Business 'Echo' for Gloucestershire, 17 June 1999
Wisemoney shortlisted
WiseMoney.com Ltd. was a regional finalist for demonstrating an "exemplary use of electronic finance" in the national Information Society/InterForum E-Commerce Awards 1999 - which were sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry and BT, National Westminster Bank.
Founder - Simon Dye Chartered Marketer, MBA, MCIM: " WiseMoney.com Ltd is built around electronic commerce - without it WiseMoney.com could not exist. All the key processes of the company are designed to minimise costs and maximise savings through the digitisation of the full range of the value chain, whilst maintaining the core focus of providing excellent Customer Relationship Management."
WiseMoney.com is a unique financial services search engine that allows customers to receive the best instant online quotes and applications for financial services products from different companies for an expanding range of products which currently include personal loans, commercial mortgages and insurances.
The ISI/InterForum E-Commerce Awards recognises success in electronic trading. Many firms are already realising significant business advantage from their use of electronic commerce applications. These awards provided a showcase for these businesses and encourage others to realise for their own companies the benefits of the 'information age'.
From the 'Gloucestershire Echo' Business and Finance Supplement,
2 February 1999Quote site a success
Two firms from Cheltenham have collaborated to provide instant financial service quotes to customers using a revolutionary online service.
A Cheltenham financial broker has created www.wisemoney.com, a web site which Epinet, an internet firm also based in Cheltenham, designed to browse a host of different mortgage, loan and insurance products.
And Epinet's web project manager, Veronika Jordan, says it is already proving a success. She said: "We think this is a first certainly in the UK, possibly in the world.
"Whereas the big financial companies' sites will give an instant quote about their products once the customers have filled in various forms on the screen, our site will search through an enormous amount of products from different firms - this is highly complex and involves a huge amount of variables."
From the 'Independent On Sunday', 10 January 1999
Get the lowdown on loan rates
Wisemoney.com is a new, independent on-line personal finance site. Users can request a quotation for professional indemnity insurance online, or apply for a personal loan or commercial mortgage. For other products, such as buildings, contents, travel and motor insurance, the service works by e-mailing for a quote. Wisemoney plans to add these products to its on-line database this month. As an opening offer, users who take out a policy, register, or link to the site from their own websites are eligible for a free Orange mobile phone.
By The HI-TECH INVESTOR
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