Financial comparison website Know Your Money has been acquired by the US financial guidance website, NerdWallet.
Through the acquisition, Know Your Money and NerdWallet will provide UK consumers with financial content, tools and independent reviews to help consumers make better financial decisions.
NerdWallet is a US-based website and app that provides financial guidance to more than 160 million consumers every year.
Know Your Money was co-founded in Norwich in 2004 by John Ellmore and Jason Tassie, both digital marketing experts with experience at Google and Aviva respectively. Last year, Deloitte named Know Your Money a Fast Track 500 business, and in 2017 the Sunday Times included it in its Tech Track 100 shortlist.
NerdWallet chose to acquire Know Your Money given its 15 years of expertise in the UK market, its network of premium partners, and comprehensive suite of personal finance products, including lending, insurance and business products. NerdWallet intends to invest in and allocate resources to Know Your Money as a significant corporate initiative, with plans to increase headcount, expand into new personal finance verticals, and build out a more expansive library of content.
“The pandemic has created a surge in demand for financial guidance and products in areas like refinance and investing — we’ve seen record visits to our site in these areas this year. Expansion to the UK is an important step towards our vision of a world where every consumer makes financial decisions with confidence,” said Tim Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of NerdWallet.
“Consumers are looking for a greater level of help, and with Know Your Money, we want to be there providing the guidance to as many people, across as many topics and in as many places as possible. Know Your Money has done a fantastic job helping consumers find and compare financial products and we’re looking forward to accelerating that work through this partnership.”
Know Your Money Co-Founder John Ellmore also commented: “Seeing our business flourish has been an incredibly rewarding journey. We feel privileged to have built a company that has provided an exceptional service to UK consumers and businesses, giving them the financial choices they need now more than ever during this challenging period of recession.”
Know Your Money Co-Founder Jason Tassie added: “We’re looking forward to joining forces with NerdWallet and building on the fantastic work our team has done helping consumers learn about, evaluate and compare financial products. Working with NerdWallet will help us accelerate our existing growth plans, expanding our content library, tools and guides to offer users more support in financial decision making. Know Your Money and NerdWallet are perfectly aligned in their goal of empowering people to make better, more-informed financial decisions.”
Norwich-based Know Your Money will become a NerdWallet subsidiary and all employees will stay on, including Ellmore and Tassie.
NerdWallet’s acquisition of Know Your Money is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority. The shareholders of Know Your Money were advised by Sequence Advisers and law firm
