Exciting Be Clever With Your Cash news!

Things are about to get bigger and better.

I’ve some really big news to share, which I’m very excited about. Be Clever With Your Cash has now officially joined forces with Smart Money People.

Smart Money People is the UK’s dedicated financial services review site and has collected over 1.2 million customer reviews. It also runs the British Bank Awards which you may have recently voted in.

I don’t think there’s another business I could partner with – Be Clever With Your Cash and Smart Money People really are two very like-minded businesses (and the names are a pretty good fit too!).

We both have a passion for all things financial services. We’re united in our aim to help people like you make better choices about how you spend and save your money. 

But most important of all, we’re both committed to unbiased and independent analysis and reviews. 

We’ll now be able to improve and expand the site and this year I’ll begin to build a team to help me do this (read a job description here). Ultimately it means more news, analysis and deals to help you make the most from your money.

I’ll also be able to include the collective wisdom of Smart Money People’s users to help you make better decisions. Whatever you’re buying, from credit cards to insurance, loans and beyond, having access to this data and insight is going to be massively beneficial.

So we’ll still be operating in much the same way – providing you with original videos, podcasts and articles. But bigger and better!

I’m sure you’ve plenty of questions, so this Q&A has more detail about what this means for me, Be Clever With Your Cash, the Cash Chats podcast and the YouTube channel.

Q&A

Will Be Clever With Your Cash stay independent?

Be Clever With Your Cash (and all my other channels) has never taken sponsored content or allowed any interference from outside brands or sources to influence what I write about or my opinions on those topics. And that won’t be changing.

Smart Money People have the same ethos – they provide a platform for customers to share honest and independent reviews of financial products. 

We’ll be finding ways to bring those customer opinions and data into Be Clever With Your Cash’s content to help provide additional insight when you’re deciding on things like the best current accounts or credit cards.

So if anything you’ll have even more spin-free and genuine information to guide your choices.

In addition we’ve published an editorial code that all Be Clever With Your Cash content will adhere to. It’s based on how I’ve always worked, but now it’s formalised and agreed between both myself and Smart Money People.

It’s worth noting too that Smart Money People doesn’t actually sell any financial or consumer products to the public, so there’s no way for a conflict of interest to impact my views.

Who is Smart Money People?

Smart Money People is the UK’s dedicated financial services review website, committed to improving financial standards for everyone through trust, knowledge, accountability, and the power of community.

Launched in 2014, Smart Money People has collected over 1.2m reviews on products and services from financial companies including banks, building societies, insurers and credit providers. These insights, comments, and experiences not only inform more people but also help financial services companies provide a better service and products to their customers. 

Each year Smart Money People also runs the British Bank Awards, Insurance Choice Awards and Consumer Credit Awards.

Why are you joining up with Smart Money People?

I’ve loved the last 9 years of doing my own thing on my own terms, and the site has grown bigger and bigger every year. Not just in terms of traffic, but also in the amount and breadth of content produced. 

As a result it’s becoming much harder to cover everything I’d like to, not to mention the “behind the scenes” work that comes with running my own business and website.

So things had reached a point where I’d either have to scale back, bring in a handful of extra people myself, or become part of something bigger. 

The deal with Smart Money People came about after a fortuitous conversation at Smart Money People’s British Bank Awards last year. I wasn’t actively seeking an investment but it was clear that we were aligned in our mission to help people make better financial decisions.

Not only are there similarities in ethos and how we want to help consumers, we also have shared goals for the growth and future of both businesses. The deal also places a great deal of importance on the editorial freedom of Be Clever With Your Cash, which is vital to what I do and will continue to do. 

I’ll be recruiting a writing team during 2023, and have access to shared expertise and specialists within Smart Money People to improve and support sides of the business such as social media, search engine optimisation, website management and business management.

Plus, with over 1.2 million customer reviews, Smart Money People also has a vast set of data on products and customer experience that I’ll be able to use within my content. I’m excited about the ability to add this extra layer of detail to my content, to show what other people just like you think of the products and services available.

Ultimately this means the site can grow, I’m able to focus more on content, and together we can reach and help even more people. 

Will Andy’s role change?

My new job title within Smart Money People is Editor-in-Chief and I’m now Managing Director for Be Clever With Your Cash. I’ll also be a member of the Smart Money People Board.

What this means day to day is I’ll remain in charge of the editorial across Be Clever With Your Cash, Cash Chats and the Andy Clever Cash YouTube channel.

In fact, for most of this year it’ll probably mean I’m still doing most of what I already do. Over time though I’ll be able to share the workload and hand over some operational tasks. That will free up time for me to lead Be Clever With Your Cash strategically. 

But producing content is and will remain why I love doing what I do, so this is really about allowing us to produce more useful and engaging content to help as many people as possible.

Will the content change?

No, the site is still dedicated to helping you make the most of your money. 

As I build the team it will mean you’ll see a couple of new faces across all the channels, and I’m excited to be able to bring you even more content.

In time we may look to refresh the website so you can easily see the link between Be Clever With Your Cash and Smart Money People, but none of the content will change.