How this site is financed

Companies cannot pay to appear on the site. Guides are written purely from a 'What's the best way to save money?' stance. Once the guides are finished, it's the commercial team's job to see if they can find 'affiliate links' to the top products.

These look and work in the same way as normal links, but if someone clicks through, the link is tracked and may generate a payment to the site. The details vary – sometimes the payment's per click, per user, per application, per accepted application or any combination.

Also, certain links in the MSE Forum posted by users have a software called Skimlinks added. This simply tracks the link to MSE. These look and work in the same way as normal links. If someone clicks through, the link is tracked and it may generate a payment to the site (see our guide on Skimlinks for more details).

We only use affiliate links that give you an identical (or better) deal than going direct. However, as these are technologically generated, issues can happen, so please let us know if you spot any.

We don't track individuals' data (unless we've asked you, where it's necessary for a specific service, such as Cheap Energy Club). Nor will we ever sell it to third parties, or pass it to MoneySupermarket, without the individual user's permission.

Doesn't this compromise the site?

We don't believe so. The MoneySaving guides are written, then, totally separately, paid links are looked for. If no paying link is available, nothing in the guide changes. If the best is the best and doesn't pay, it stays the best. The link used is simply 'non-affiliated' – in other words, non-paying. Financial considerations do not affect inclusion in articles.

Yet just like best buys change all the time, so do the products with affiliate links available. We may use the weekly email and website navigation to remind you more often about deals or guides that generate more revenue for the main site at that time, but, crucially, the info within will be exactly the same.

We will never change our stance, or picks, because of commercial considerations.

What about MSE Blagged deals? How do they work?

MSE Blagged deals are exclusive deals arranged by MSE. They will only ever appear on the site on editorial merit, because they're the best deal of their type on the market.

MSE shares the revenue from these deals (we have staff to pay) at similar values to market averages for non-exclusives.

Where do the links come from?

Even though you don't necessarily see it, the links to products come from finance comparison sites such as MoneySupermarket, uSwitch and TotallyMoney, or affiliate sites such as Tradedoubler and Awin, or directly from the company featured. Their links are used and then if someone clicks through, MoneySavingExpert gets a split of their revenue.

In fact, this was part of the logic of joining the Moneysupermarket Group, as it cemented its position as our primary supplier of links.

It's easy to get confused about this – some newspapers did. This doesn't mean we link to MoneySupermarket itself more. Instead, when we're looking for a link to First Direct that pays us, for example, we ask MoneySupermarket or other companies to provide that link, so we get a share of the revenue. Since the deal, it means when we've researched an offer that editorially merits being on the site, we ask MoneySupermarket first if it can provide a link.

We usually try to avoid going directly to, or building a relationship with, financial product providers themselves, to reduce opportunities for them to exert pressure (which we'd ignore anyway). Occasionally, links are direct, for example to comparison services, new cards or shopping, when, within the context of the guides, they're the best way to save money.

We want you to know when links are affiliated...

Rather than any grand design to set up such a massive beast, the revenue concept behind the main site grew organically, based on the need to fund costs. We believe it's done in a way that makes this a successful project without compromising the information on the site or its campaigning agenda.

Our finances have always been strong, which has allowed the main site to grow, create employment, build more tools and help our users.

Here are some examples of where the money goes:

• A team of editorial and technical staff

  There are about 65 highly qualified and skilled full-time team members working at MoneySaving Towers. Two-thirds are editorial, contributing to research, campaigns, guides, deals hunting and more.

  The rest are a mix of developers building tools to help people save money, forum administrators to help that particular behemoth function, and commercial, design and admin staff.

• Servers and keeping the site running

  With more than 16 million unique users a month, the site requires mammoth processing power and technology to stay up-and-running at speed.

  The MSE Forum alone is one of the UK's biggest social networks, with over two million members, and takes huge resources. As well as technology, there are the rules and issues of policing such a large community to keep it a safe place for all.

• Developing new tools and clubs

  We constantly strive to create clubs and add clever free tools to help you analyse your finances, bag deals and find the market's best products – from the Ultimate Mortgage Calculator to Cheap Energy Club and Cheap Mobile Finder. Many tools don't generate revenue, one of the reasons they're unique.

• Legal bills

  You may be surprised that this isn't usually for the main site. Despite campaigns such as bank charge or PPI reclaiming being somewhat controversial, and on occasion requiring legal consultancy, they're still relatively minor.

  The big bills come from defending consumer comment in the forum, when companies whose reputations are rightly tarnished try to force it to be taken down, or when other firms incorrectly use the MSE brand or logo as endorsement, and we have to ask them to stop this. We have to pick and choose our fights carefully, but it is important that MSE isn't cowed and can fight its corner where necessary.

• Campaigning work
  
  We believe a site such as MoneySavingExpert has a responsibility to fight consumers' corner. That's why we have a dedicated team campaigning for your rights by pushing key bodies and groups – including the Government, Parliament and regulators – to end the rip-offs and beat unfairness in personal finance.
  
  This has ranged from calling for buy now, pay later services to be regulated, to working with a coalition of partners to get scam ads in the Online Safety Bill. And of course we've previously led high-profile campaigns against unfair bank charges and mis-sold PPI, to name just two.

  We also work to represent our users in meetings with policymakers, and to respond to consultations on issues that affect consumers. You can find out more about our work on our Campaigns hub.

• It's allowed nearly £2.4 million to be donated to charity

  For years, the site's been donating to charities large and small, with some voted for by users. The charity fund got so big (well in excess of £100,000 a year), that there was enough cash to set up its own charity.

  The MSE Charity gives grants of up to £8,000 to groups that provide education, information and support to help people learn how to manage their money better.

  For more info on MSE's donations over the years, see our MSE charity fund guide.