Money facts best buy tables beware

Malchester

As you may know Moneyfacts have tweaked their best buy tables by removing the need to untick the box to see all rates in order. They have replaced it with an 'apply online' category or in 'rate order' but the apply online is exactly the same as the ticked box as it does not list all accounts where you can apply online only those you can click through from Moneyfacts (where they get a cut). To get true results you should click rate order 

refluxer

That's a shame, especially for anyone like me who doesn't tend to be interested in branch/post/phone-only accounts and wants online access as a minimum requirement.

I appreciate they have to make their money somehow, but it still feels a bit misleading. I guess 'Apply Online Through Us First' wouldn't make for a snappy button !

Think I'll stick to Savings Champion...

Malchester

I look at Savings Champion but, unless I am missing something, the range of accounts listed is very limited. I was wanting to look at easy access ISA but they only have variable rate ISA rates which include limited access and notice accounts. But as I say I may be missing something 

Band7

refluxer said:

That's a shame, especially for anyone like me who doesn't tend to be interested in branch/post/phone-only accounts and wants online access as a minimum requirement.

I appreciate they have to make their money somehow, but it still feels a bit misleading. I guess 'Apply Online Through Us First' wouldn't make for a snappy button !

Think I'll stick to Savings Champion...

You can still use the Search function on Moneyfacts to filter out all the accounts you don’t want, or to list only whatever it is you are after.  I find them more comprehensive than Savings Champion, and I feel in control on Moneyfacts. I don’t want Savings Champion or anyone else to make selections for me, and I am not interested in outfits whose real agenda is to sell me investments. Obvsly others prefer to be guided.

What is your issue with the Apply button on Moneyfacts, and how does it in principle differ from clicking through from Savings Champion, or from any other website for that mattet?

refluxer

Malchester said:

I look at Savings Champion but, unless I am missing something, the range of accounts listed is very limited. I was wanting to look at easy access ISA but they only have variable rate ISA rates which include limited access and notice accounts. But as I say I may be missing something 

No, you're right - one downside of Savings Champion is that certain types of accounts like that are bunched together which isn't ideal. I use Savings Champion if I want a quick scan of the current best rates and will then check out other comparison sites if I want a more detailed or comprehensive list and to check for anything that SC might have missed.

Savings Champion is nice and quick to use via a browser on a larger screen (eg. PC or laptop) as the navigation menu is down the left-hand side - I find their site navigation much more fiddly on a phone. 

25_Years_On

You can bookmark lists so you always get accounts in rate order. It depends if it's worth the trouble. You could have a few bookmarks for the most regularly checked lists.

https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/easy-access-savings-accounts/?quick-links-first=false

https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/1-year-fixed-rate-bonds/?quick-links-first=false

https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/2-year-fixed-rate-bonds/?quick-links-first=false

https://moneyfacts.co.uk/isa/instant-access-cash-isas/?quick-links-first=false

https://moneyfacts.co.uk/isa/fixed-rate-isas/?quick-links-first=false

Although it's not much trouble to click rate order.

eskbanker

Malchester said:

As you may know Moneyfacts have tweaked their best buy tables by removing the need to untick the box to see all rates in order. They have replaced it with an 'apply online' category or in 'rate order' but the apply online is exactly the same as the ticked box as it does not list all accounts where you can apply online only those you can click through from Moneyfacts (where they get a cut). To get true results you should click rate order 

To be fair, they do explain it in the online help, accessible via the question mark icon beside the buttons:

Selecting ‘Apply Online First’ brings all products that you can apply for directly via Moneyfacts to the top of the chart in rate order. Products that do not have an ‘Apply Online’ button will appear below, again in rate order. Selecting ‘Rate’ will change the chart to list all products in rate order. Products that have ‘Apply Online’ links will still be in the list but in rate position.

refluxer

Band7 said:

refluxer said:

That's a shame, especially for anyone like me who doesn't tend to be interested in branch/post/phone-only accounts and wants online access as a minimum requirement.

I appreciate they have to make their money somehow, but it still feels a bit misleading. I guess 'Apply Online Through Us First' wouldn't make for a snappy button !

Think I'll stick to Savings Champion...

You can still use the Search function on Moneyfacts to filter out all the accounts you don’t want, or to list only whatever it is you are after.  I find them more comprehensive than Savings Champion, and I feel in control on Moneyfacts. I don’t want Savings Champion or anyone else to make selections for me, and I am not interested in outfits whose real agenda is to sell me investments. Obvsly others prefer to be guided.

I only ever look at the savings account comparison tables on the SC site so I don't know what other services they offer and if it is a site geared towards investing, then that doesn't impact the savings comparison section of the site. Most sites that offer you a service for free will have some kind of agenda or way to make money, whether it's a commission for clicking though or different sections for offering other services.

I only tend to use SC first because it's much quicker to get an overview of the current best rates and I do find Moneyfacts more comprehensive when actually needing to choose an account. 

Band7 said:
What is your issue with the Apply button on Moneyfacts, and how does it in principle differ from clicking through from Savings Champion, or from any other website for that mattet?

I don't have an issue with applying for an account online via the site - my issue is the 'Apply Online' filter for re-ordering accounts, as people would naturally take that to mean that ALL accounts you can apply for online would be listed in rate order, whereas clicking this option actually lists accounts you can apply for directly via Moneyfacts higher than accounts you can't, even if those rates are lower. 

As eskbanker pointed out though - to be fair to Moneyfacts, they do have a help icon nearby that explains things.