When it comes to shaking things up in the financial sector, Montreal-Based Start-Up Hardbacon came out with a bang in 2018. A start-up with a mission, they began offering services and products that added value to those who were involved in the stock market. As of 2020, they have extended their reach and increased their ability to add value by creating an all-encompassing, personal finance budgeting tool that allows you to plan, budget and invest, all from the same app.
The investment and budgeting portions of their services are well worth discussing, but the areas of particular interest are their financial product comparison tools. There are other competitors in the market such as Ratehub or RatesDotCa, but Hardbacon has done it a cut above the rest of the pack.
From Canadian credit cards to Canadian chequing accounts, Hardbacon gives you the ability to contrast and compare bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages, online brokers, robo-advisors and personal loans. This is an extensive list of the majority of the financial services the average person will need to have access to.
Having these services bundled and comparable all in one place, to be scrutinized at the user’s discretion is an attractive feature for a personal finance website. This is especially appealing when you consider the budgeting and investment tools that are also included in their app.
As for the comparison tools themselves, the feature that makes it the most user-friendly and effective is the Q and A section. There is a designated area for you to input your monthly expenses where it factors into the search results. Once you fill in the expense portion and answer the questions on the left-hand side of the page, the app goes to work. It will use your answer as a filter for the types of services or accounts they believe would suit your needs the best.
The value of this feature cannot be overstated. They have hundreds of accounts and credit cards that can be compared to one another and by narrowing the search results by relevance to the user, they are creating an experience that creates two key outcomes. First, it allows the user to see a multitude of options without feeling overwhelmed by the number of choices available. Secondly, it gives the user confidence they won’t miss a good match for them. This is because they know the options shown are chosen due to their preferences and needs.
Another innovative feature of this tool is the “compare” button that is specific to credit cards. This allows a user to select a card by pressing “compare” in the right-hand corner. It sets that card into a virtual shopping cart where you can compare that one card to others you have chosen. Each card also has a summary of its benefits displayed on a banner at the bottom of each card, making its features easy to know and understand.
Other articles from mtltimes.ca – totimes.ca – otttimes.ca
Pivot your life and business with life coach Sonia Zarbatany
Montreal climbing the ladder for top millennial Canadian city
