E-FINANCE: Consumers can save themselves hundreds of euros by shopping around before purchasing a financial product.
Whether it's a personal loan, home insurance or an investment fund, charges and rates differ and it is short-sighted and potentially costly to take the first thing you are offered.
New money management website www.primafinance.ie is a very good place to start your research if you are thinking of making any kind of financial commitment.
It's been a while since a new standalone financial website of this scale opened for business. The online financial services sector has yet to prove itself profitable but you can't stop people trying.
Primafinance was founded by Mr Brian Leslie, who left Bank of Ireland Private Banking in Dublin to set up the new Killarney-based company. The site is supported by a team of financial advisers on the telephone, six days a week.
Primafinance has arrangements in place with 21 financial institutions, including Bank of Scotland, Canada Life, Hibernian, Davy Stockbrokers and First Active. It will make money by charging those institutions a flat percentage commission for products it sells.
The site has a range of useful calculators and financial information about everything from portfolio tracking to estate planning.
The new venture has raised finance from private investors as well as funding from State agencies and a business expansion scheme. About €254,000 (£200,000) has been invested so far.
One thing Primafinance does not have is an extensive marketing budget, so the challenge for Mr Leslie is to promote the name as widely as possible. The experience of previous operators in this area, such as the ill-fated www.finance2u.com, is that it takes a high level of traffic to generate a small amount of business.
Mr Leslie claims that commission and charges levied by banks and brokers are excessive, most noticeably in pensions and investment funds.
"Primafinance ensures the customer knows where the best value is and who offers the best deal," he says.
"We only sell the most effective and competitive financial product on the market. This means that where products are unsuitable for a client's needs or are priced too high, the customers will not select these products - nor will our financial advisers recommend them."
Primafinance aims to take away the current influence that banks and insurance companies have over their customers and transfer that influence to the customer.
In Britain, a number of comprehensive and independent finance web portals have proved to be very popular with those who like to actively manage their finances.
With greater access to personal computers, continued exposure to online banking and busier lifestyles, it is natural to assume that the marketplace for online financial services in the Republic is set to develop and increase in importance.
