www.finfacts.ie


29 Jul 2004

What is it?
Finfacts.ie is one of Ireland’s longest running financial and business information portals.

Who is it for?
The site is in every sense a web portal and its content is geared towards people interested in finance, whether you’re someone merely interested in managing your finances or getting the best rate on a mortgage; to first-time investors testing the market and is even geared towards a more seasoned investor seeking the latest news and market intelligence.

What features does it contain?
In many ways it’s a Swiss army knife for financial news and information. The site contains links to daily breaking financial news sites, stocks and currencies, economics data, pensions information, business travel, car prices, salary surveys, state business centres and tax information. Savvy investors can get the latest information on Irish share prices, market capitalisations, US markets, European markets and other global markets. One of the winning features of the website is its list of special reports on such things as Irish CEO pay, office rent rates, the top 100 technology companies, the Forbes billionaires list for 2004 and a ranking of the most expensive cities in the world to live (Dublin has jumped to 21st most expensive place in the world to live from 73rd place a year ago!). Another winning aspect of the site is its price comparisons section: you can check out the cost of petrol in other European countries as well as other basic necessities.

How does it look?
Busy! The guys who put this site together obviously believe in packing it full with content and thus keeping users glued. The only drawback is it is text heavy, too text heavy, so don’t look for minimalist design.

Best feature?
Despite an innovative Finfacts TV streaming broadcast service, in terms of simplicity and directness the share listing service (updated every 20 minutes) wins it for me.

The verdict?
This website truly embraces the spirit of ‘information at your fingertips’.

By John Kennedy