Governor Money - anyone used them?

justine68

I finally understand how Governor Money works. If I got it right, I can put my money in a savings account with one of their providers, and they then alert me if a better rate comes up.

I really like the idea of the alerts. I usually change my savings account once a year, sometimes less though because looking for better rates is such a hassle.

But I'm not sure of their providers. I'd be dealing with them rather than with Governor Money? Has anyone used Governor and had good/bad experiences with their providers?

Reaper

I looked at them but the small selection put me off.

If you like the idea of savings interest rate alerts you could try this: http://www.savingschampion.co.uk/

innovate

The thing I don't understand at all about them is how do they make their money?

That's both, Governor Money, and savingschampion

Anyone got any insights, or guesses?

HelpWhereIcan

Governor's Terms and conditions state

18.6. Our income principally comes from commission paid by the Deposit Takers that we place Deposits with in accordance with your and our other clients’ Orders. For the avoidance of any doubt, you do not pay the commission we earn on Deposits - you will receive the interest rates on your Investments as such rates are advertised on the Website and in the relevant Product Factsheets.

Whether this means they restrict the providers they use or are taking the gamble the (few as far as I know) providers who pay commission will attract enough business for it all to be worthwhile.

They also have a table of charges for some fairly basic things http://www.governormoney.com/system/uploads/attachments/0000/1339/Table_of_Charges.pdf

Things like "£15 for Closing a Cash ISA product before maturity" could add up for smaller amounts - especially if the amount involved is quite small.

Savings Champion says

http://www.savingschampion.co.uk/about-us/how-do-we-make-our-money/

We have funding for 2 years which means that we don’t need to make profit
during that time to continue the business. We do know that in due course we may
charge for new services and that there will be other opportunities for us to
earn money, for example from click-throughs and referrals. But we will never
accept a payment that compromises in any way our independent, whole of market
approach to providing information on savings products. And we will never pass
your details to another organisation without your specific request to do so.


So in short, at this stage our costs are covered but
in due course we will make some profit from the normal Internet clicks and
bricks so that the long-term future of this independent web-based service is
assured.

I suspect this means they will start to sell leads to IFAs etc

Allofcreation

Thanks Reaper, Innovate and Helpwhereican.:T I have been looking for an alternative to Governor Money now that they are winding up and have stopped accepting savings deposits. I have struggled to find an alternative, but thanks for mentioning Savings Champion. I have been off to their website and am going to give the rate tracker concierge service a go as they cover the whole of the market and all savings vehicles and Governor Money has shut up shop on me.

Has anyone else used them? I can see they have good testimonials but I can’t find a review of their service?

Just thought I’d say thanks

James :j

innovate

Why pay anyone to keep a diary and check savings rates for you? Both things are simple. Information about interest rates is easy to obtain from several comparison sites. You can do this day and night yourself, you don't have to wait until someone gets into the office and gets round to your accounts.

If you pay anyone to check interest rates for you, you are effectively reducing the interest rates you get. When you get next to nothing to start with, does it really make sense to pay someone for such a simple piece of work?

Reaper

Allofcreation wrote: »

Has anyone else used them?

Yes I use them. In practice I am pretty organised with my savings and already know when bonus rates expire etc but it is reassuring to have them as a backup in case I overlook one.

The only bad thing is you can't edit your entries. If, for example, you add more money that moves you into a higher interest rate bracket the only way to tell them that in their rate tracker is to delete the existing entry and re-add it. I asked them about it and they said they plan to improve it.

innovate wrote: »

Why pay anyone to keep a diary and check savings rates for you?

Savings Champion are free unless you opt for the unnecessary (IMO) concierge service.

innovate

Reaper wrote: »

Savings Champion are free unless you opt for the unnecessary (IMO) concierge service.

I know and agree - - allofcreation was talking about their concierge service.

As to their free service - - I found you can't register all your savings (e.g. more obscure Building Societies, or current accounts - - - i.e. the places that still pay half-decent interest) so if I have do some myself I might as well do them all myself.

JoVal

Originally posted by Reaper

The only bad thing is you can't edit your entries

I use their Rate Tracker and get their newsletter. They said in one of them that balances can be amended now, but I have not tried it.

Originally posted by Innovate

As to their free service - - I found you can't register all your savings (e.g.
more obscure Building Societies, or current accounts - - - i.e. the places that
still pay half-decent interest) so if I have do some myself I might as well do
them all myself.

Funny that I added my new santander123 current account last week, maybe they have got the message and are now doing them. As to the the other accounts, they say they cover everything as per the message they put out on the foroum at the bottom of the link below (I have c+p the respose below it in case you don't want to scroll all the way through.

OT - Please can anyone let me know how to do these quote boxes properly like everyone else with post links in?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4238091

Hi

SavingsChampion's asked to give a reply.
MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the forum.

Hi, I’m Anna
Bowes, one of the founders of SavingsChampion.
We
monitor all UK Bank and Building Society savings accounts - there are thousands
of them (because we also monitor accounts that have been closed to new
business). We’re totally independent and if you can't find the account you have
with a certain provider, please let us know and we'll look in to this for you
(and add it if it’s really not there).

We don't cover current accounts
just standard savings accounts i.e. all easy access, notice, fixed rate bonds
and cash ISAs, which will be why you can't find the Lloyds Vantage
Account.

Although at the moment we don't show the current interest rate
that you are earning within your personal portfolio (although we do display them
when you are adding an account) we are in the process of updating this - so
you'll shortly be able to see all interest rates in one place.

In the
meantime, we email when bonuses or fixed rate products expire/mature or if the
rates change in the interim.
We purposefully set up Rate Tracker to solve
the problem of people having to create their own spread sheets and outlook
reminders because we know how difficult it can be to get this basic information
from providers. We totally believe that it does this, however we always
appreciate any thoughts or suggestions about how we can make it better, so
please do let us know.

Hope this helps.

JoVal

Got it now, gosh I really am stupid sometimes, couldn't see it for looking :money:

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

Hi

SavingsChampion's asked to give a reply. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the forum.

Hi, I’m Anna Bowes, one of the founders of SavingsChampion.
We monitor all UK Bank and Building Society savings accounts - there are thousands of them (because we also monitor accounts that have been closed to new business). We’re totally independent and if you can't find the account you have with a certain provider, please let us know and we'll look in to this for you (and add it if it’s really not there).

We don't cover current accounts just standard savings accounts i.e. all easy access, notice, fixed rate bonds and cash ISAs, which will be why you can't find the Lloyds Vantage Account.

Although at the moment we don't show the current interest rate that you are earning within your personal portfolio (although we do display them when you are adding an account) we are in the process of updating this - so you'll shortly be able to see all interest rates in one place.

In the meantime, we email when bonuses or fixed rate products expire/mature or if the rates change in the interim.
We purposefully set up Rate Tracker to solve the problem of people having to create their own spread sheets and outlook reminders because we know how difficult it can be to get this basic information from providers. We totally believe that it does this, however we always appreciate any thoughts or suggestions about how we can make it better, so please do let us know.

Hope this helps.

innovate

Thanks for the update, JoVal. Despite your improvements, savingschampion isn't for me. It didn't offer me full coverage of my accounts when I looked at it (and probably still doesn't) so I had to find other arrangements. These are working great for me, cost only my own time (of which I have plenty), and I don't have to share my data with anyone who eventually wants/needs to make money out of me.