—For those who took this seriously - seriously? - This is an April Fools Joke—

Kim Wilson and Paul Rippey announced yesterday that the Savings Revolution website has been sold to Barclays Bank for undisclosed considerations. Kim and Paul started Savings Revolution in 2010 to be an independent voice for community-managed, savings-led groups. The site has been a labor of love for them, financed out of their own resources. In announcing the sale, the founders thank everyone who has contributed to Savings Revolution, and express their hope that the readers will continue their loyalty to the site under the new ownership and management.

Ferlandia Schmidt, an 18 year veteran of Barclays, was named the new editor of Savings Revolution. Mrs. Schmidt said she is looking forward to continuing the great tradition of the site with only minor changes. “We are very proud to take on the management of this brand and we are happy that Barclays will be able to enrich the values that it represents. We appreciate the ideal of members being responsible for their own financial lives, and we will continue to promote it as part of our CSR campaign while we find ways to increase our customer capture rate. We will work with Savings Groups and our INGO partners to expand financial inclusion, an increasingly important growth centre for us. We are committed to the principle that all of our rural clients can continue their savings rituals while producing a steady revenue stream for Barclays.”

Barclays also announced plans to rebrand the site “Financial Inclusion Revolution”, stressing the important contribution that Savings Groups can make to reducing the credit risk of financial institutions.  

Awesome! Go Barclays!! Can't wait til some REAL bankers figure out how valuable this savings grope thing really is.

Mon, March 31, 2014 | Lego-man

Wow, what a shocker! While I understand that you may want to move on, I am afraid I must refrain from ´liking´ this post. I am sure your quirkiness will be sorely missed by long-time readers, as the blog goes all corporaty. By the way, I need to understand what this means in terms of the ownership of the ´likes´ that my past --and current-- posts have been collecting. Did those get automatically transferred to Barclays too, or do I get to keep them?

Best, Ignacio.

Mon, March 31, 2014 | Ignacio

Since it is April 1, that means I don't have to write a piece on how SGs are a natural partner for the bank, since they both seek to maximise shareholder return.

Tue, April 1, 2014 | Hugh Allen

I wouldn't have believed you even if it was not April 1st.......Barclays of all the more suitable partners out there....please.....

Tue, April 1, 2014 | Kuria

Oh PUHLEESE!!

Good one Paul!

The Easter Bunny

Tue, April 1, 2014 | Jill Thompson

Paul, Can I get my .002 cents I was bilked on my share of LIBOR from you now or shall I sue the bank? Bill

Tue, April 1, 2014 | William Maddocks