Money Dashboard, the free online personal finance service, has launched a new-look customer-facing website hosted on the Microsoft Azure Cloud.
The new website represents a step change for the company as it prepares for launch later in the year. Incorporating modern and emotive branding, the site reflects a confident and focused company with the needs of its users at its core. The new site is expected to take Money Dashboard through to the full public launch of its application.
Making life easier for the consumer is at Money Dashboard's core, a value reflected in the new site. A regular money saving blog written by Money Dashboard's team of experts provides valuable tips for users learning to budget. It also highlights important personal finance news so that users don't get caught out by changes in the industry. Meanwhile, the Twitter feed and online forum make it easier for the company to engage directly with users and respond to feedback from the online community.
The website and brand voice were created by Gill White, an Edinburgh-based designer who has a strong consumer portfolio including work for The Guardian, Office Shoes, Next, Channel 4 and Volvo.
James Varga, Money Dashboard's COO, worked closely with Gill on the project.
He comments: Our users are central to our company so we wanted to created a strong site that they would like. We knew from the start that we didn't want a dry corporate site so we're very pleased with Gill's emotive and attractive design. I think it really reflects where we are as a company and mirrors our focused and positive brand values.
The website is hosted on Microsoft's Azure cloud and it is one of the first large scale B2C propositions on the platform. The site's full content management system, powered by Factonomy, is hosted on the cloud and is easily scalable.
Mr Varga adds: We wanted to host the service on the Azure platform because of its ability to scale up and down quickly and adapt to our changing business needs. As we grow, I am confident that we will be able to keep the site dynamic and fresh while responding to the demands of our users.
Money Dashboard reduces financial stress by giving user total control over their budget. It brings a person's bank accounts, credit cards and store cards together in one service - giving a clear up to the minute picture of their personal finances. A text and email alert system give users peace of mind by providing warnings about suspicious transactions, budget overspends and important events. The application is currently available in Open Beta, with new functionality being added gradually to meet users' requirements.
Consumers can access the Money Dashboard application from any computer and by using it for just ten to fifteen minutes a month it allows them to track spending, set budgets and helps them save. Independent of banks, building societies and lending organisations, Money Dashboard is the consumer's friend and puts people back in control of their finances.
