Billmonitor has become the first price comparison website to get an official accreditation from communications watchdog Ofcom after passing a series of stringent tests.
The company, founded by Dr. Stelios Koundouros, Professor Chris Holmes and Dr. Nicolai Meinshausen, got a research and development grant from the Department of Trade and Industry in statistical decision technology but is actually operated by Optimor limited.
The online mobile comparison tool allows user to manually assess the best deals on the market depending on their usage (by filling a survey form) which is then compared against a database of nearly 3.1 million deals including around 120,000 tariffs with 142 bundles.
Bill Monitor also has a nifty feature that allows you to analyse your online bill for the perfect recommendation. You will have to provide it with your mobile phone number, user and and password to your online account. or the time being, only Vodafone, Orange and O2 are supported.
Unfortunately, although Billmonitor manages to include all five major networks, it leaves out other significant players like Virgin Mobile, Tesco Mobile, Asda and Ikea. It is not updated regularly as well, the last refresh dating back from the 18th of May.
Still, BillMonitor managed to save on average nearly £200 per Billmonitor users by switching them to a more suitable, often cheaper, mobile tariff. Nearly 90 percent of users can save on average 40 percent of their mobile phone bill this way.
and join more than 1400 other followers.
Our Comments
BillMonitor is likely to be the first of a series of comparison calculators. It is currently limited to mobiles but there's nothing preventing Optimor from extending it to mortgages, utility bills and so on. Its interface is easy to navigate and although there's not enough phones (plus it is not PAYG friendly for now), it is bound to become better and smarter.
Related Links
BillMonitor announces accreditation by Ofcom
http://www.billmonitor.com/blog/2009/05/billmonitor-accredited-by-ofcom/
BillMonitor
BillMonitor plans to cut your mobile bill
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2009/05/billmonitor-plans-to-cut-your.html
Ofcom approves phone tariff comparison site
BillMonitor comparison site rings Ofcom's bell
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/may/21/mobile-phones-billmonitor
BillMonitor Claims £4bn Annual Mobile Bill Savings
BillMonitor.com launches
Cheaper mobile calls for all?
http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/maggieh/2009/05/21/cheaper-mobile-calls-for-all/
