Manage your finance with Wesabe

During our session about web 2.0, at the online_banking_summit_2007, we advised the audience to check wesabe which according to us was an excellent example of web 2.0.

Wesabe: managing your finance made easier
First, I planned to review the website myself. But I believe you will find a lot of information in the following posts:
* Wesabe Gets Money From Tim O’Reilly’s OATV
* Wesabe: Personal Finances Made Easy
* Wesabe: community money-saving service

Buzz marketing: Wesabe on YouTube
Like most web 2.0 startups, wesabe has a limited marketing budget. Those companies count on word and mouth, buzz, and the power of their community.

I am always pleased to see the presence of a "web 2.0 company" on YouTube. I think it is a smart way to share a video about the company, communicate a message and demonstrate the excellence of the platform.

They created their YouTube user, wesabe, in November 2006. They uploaded only 3 videos so far, but it looks like they visit YouTube on regular basis. If I were them, I would urge my members to shoot a video and share a suggestion, a tip or a testimonial.

They still don't make the most of YouTube, but the video embedded to my post has already been viewed over 26,000 times. Well done wesabe!

Companies like Wesabe, Prosper or Zopa embody the web 2.0: they provide a platform, but it is their members who have the control, and eventually who will decide of their success...
 
Wall Street Journal's Article on Online Financial Planning Tools from Banks
Traditional banks have also started to use the web to help their clients manage their finance. Last week, I found about this article on NetBanker.
 
The Wall Street Journal published an extra section yesterday on personal finance entitled, Your Money Matters. Online financial tools were highlighted in Jane Kim's, "Check it Out: New online tools from financial institutions can help consumers manage their money."