Mortgages now available through social networking site!

by John Fitzsimons on 19 August 2009  |  3 comments
Tweet

My nightmares are coming true – you can now apply for a range of financial products via one social networking site.

Back in June, I had a bit of a moan about the way that some financial companies are - in my view - going a bit overboard with their use of technology in Texting bank balances is a step too far.

And in that blog, I joked about what would come next - applying for a mortgage via Facebook perhaps?

Two months on, and guess what - there is now a social networking site set up to allow you to apply for financial products.

Worklifelive.com is a site set up for professionals, executives and business people to share recommendations on things like restaurants, hotels and holidays, as well as having 'the latest financial sourcing systems at your fingertips'.

In the words of the site 'With worklifelive, members have the reassurance that comes with talking to peers...Successful professional people need to share success, 'offload' emotionally, and seek guidance from like-minded folk, and worklifelive.com meets just those needs'.

Sounds good, right?

Prospective members have to be approved to join the site before gaining access to the site's facilities, and can search from a range of mortgages as well as access independent advice from Savills Private Finance, one of the biggest mortgage brokers in the country.

It's not just mortgages that you can get access to either - life protection policies, car insurance or any general insurance policies can also be obtained through the site, presumably in between discussing their latest skiing jaunt, and bemoaning the portion sizes at La Caprice.

Ok, so I'm being very cynical about this, but the concept just leaves me feeling uneasy. If a site is 100% about money and has a social element to it, then fair enough.

But this is essentially a members club, with a bit of financial functionality tacked on for good measure. And that will never appeal to me.

Personally, I prefer to handle my financial matters on financial sites, and leave my socialising to the social sites.