Today begins the start of a new phase in the story of Knowyourbank. We launched the first iteration of Knowyourbank on March 12th, 2012. Since then we have learned a tremendous amount from our users and appreciate your support. At the end of last night we have had over 114,000 unique visitors to the site.

We set out to bring our users an easy way to find out how safe their bank or credit union. We did this by aggregating data from the federal government and running standard liquidity (Tier 1 Capital/Tier 1 Leverage Ratios/Net Worth Ratio) and texas ratio calculations to explain to our users how safe their banks and credit unions are. Our belief was that everyone deserves and should understand the safety of their bank or credit union.

When we finished building the site we realized there was a far greater problem to solve. How do people find a bank or a credit union, or for that matter, how do they find a credit card or a mortgage?

The second phase of the site builds on top of the original reason for starting Knowyourbank, which was to build consumer awareness and knowledge about banking. The new site you see today has been a result of countless hours of work and planning, and having said that it is still a far cry from being a finished product. We studied the problems that surround consumer finance and banking. We asked tons of questions to random people: How do you make financial decisions? Why do you bank where you do? Do you want to leave your bank? Do you know how to leave your bank? What type of resource would help you make better banking decisions? Out of the answers to these questions arose the current iteration of Knowyourbank.

We have created what we call a social engagement platform on Knowyourbank that we hope will help power the exchange of knowledge about banking and finance. We leverage people’s social networks starting with Facebook, and allow them to share the banks, credit unions, and financial products they use with each other (we will be looking to add Twitter and LinkedIn). What we are really doing is taking the current form of consumer financial discovery – referrals – and bringing leverage to it.

How about you? How did you find your bank? You probably found your bank or credit union the same way most people do; through their friends or family members. Well, what if you could ask the people who you know that have a greater knowledge about finance than you do for referrals about where to bank or what financial product to use? That is what Knowyourbank is here to enable. We know that people do not want to share financial experiences on Facebook, but if they had a place they could go that was specific to finance and banking that they would be willing to share. Sharing of reviews with your network will help your friends to save money and make better decisions. They will learn about your positive and negative experiences.

The new Knowyourbank wants our users to help each other. Those who know more should tell those who know less, and we want to be able to make the ease of going from a review to getting what you need fast and efficient.

Here are a list of some of the new features that will come with the Knowyourbank.com 2.0 release:

* Profile Choice: Users will be able to customize the site without signing in by choosing what type of profile they fit. The two profiles you will be able to choose from are personal or business.

* Social Customization: Users will be able to customize the site based on what their friends say and like. Reviews and products that your friends like on Knowyourbank will show up before anything else. This will allow you to get trusted reviews and recommendations.

* Write Bank Reviews to Help Others: Users will have a new review widget where they can leave their friends and the Knowyourbank community information and insights about their banking experiences.

* Leave Your Info For a Bank and Let Them Get Back to You: We have created new contact forms, where you can state your needs and your contact info and we will route that info to the right people at the bank. That way you don’t have to wait on the phone and when you do get a call from a bank there will be no confusion about what you need (This feature will depend on whether the bank you want to contact is on the platform).

We have built a lot of new functionality and we will continue to work to improve Knowyourbank.

Lastly, we have changed our privacy policy and terms of use. This is to take into account the fact that we are becoming a much more interactive site.

We are excited about the new Knowyourbank and hope that with your help we will be able to facilitate the exchange of knowledge so that our users will be more informed and smarter consumers. In the end we want you to Know Your Bank and share your knowledge with those who know less.

Best,

Franklin Ross
Founder and CEO
Knowyourbank.com