Personal Finance Digest to be acquired by Bankrate and JPMorgan Chase

Five years ago I started blogging so that I could share awesome deals with friends and family. Let me be clear: my intentions in creating this blog were 100% noble and altruistic. Filthy lucre was the farthest thing from my mind.

As it turns out, I am really good at the business of blogging. I convinced Matt to pay me thousands of dollars per month to host my high-value content on Saverocity, freeing myself from the mundane details of web hosting. I used my SEO skills to make this site the 78th most popular search result for “Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard®”. I was among the first to prove that credit cards are, in fact, accepted in the Maldives. I pioneered the blending of cat videos and reward card tutorials. And I have been plagiarized by some of the biggest names in points & miles blogging.

Yet running the world’s most amazing blog has turned out to be a bigger job than even an internet genius like me could have predicted. Frankly, it was cutting into my jet-setting time, as it grew harder and harder to find even an hour a week in which to cavort. The solution: partner with folks who had the technical and administrative resources to take Personal Finance Digest to the next level.

So I am thrilled to announce that PFD is now part of the Bankrate family, owner of creditcards.com! And also the JP Morgan Chase family, owner of chase.com and a portfolio of amazing credit cards! Going forward, the blog will be operated as a joint venture majority-controlled by those two entities, with the remainder held by a number of sovereign wealth funds, primarily Temasek Holdings and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

A crucial part of my decision was the ability to keep my complete independence in publishing content. I made it absolutely clear that I’ll write about whatever I want, as I always have! Fortunately for all parties involved, what I really what to write about is great products such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card. Did you know that right now you can get 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening? That’s $625 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®! And there’s no extra charge for exciting perks like price protection! Wow!

The folks at Bankrate support the PFD philosophy of writing about credit cards which don’t pay me a commission, and which don’t pay them a commission either, but which readers should know about! And for some reason the folks at Chase also support my philosophy of, in theory at least, writing about credit cards which aren’t issued by Chase. Again, it is fortunate for everybody involved that I like writing about Chase products so much, and you like hearing about them so much!  Bottom line: the big winner in this exciting new arrangement is not me, it’s not Chase, it’s not Bankrate, and it’s not the foreign dignitaries like his highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nayhan who control the wealth funds. No, the real winner here is you, the reader.

Unlike most acquirers, Bankrate and Chase have been terrific! They have left me alone to manage the blog and I have no revenue, profitability, or growth numbers to hit. In fact, they both told me I could shut down the blog tomorrow and they wouldn’t care. They have lots of extra money and just want to spread the wealth around, so if this venture doesn’t work out, no big deal. In fact, they’re in this business for the same reason I am: pure, selfless altruism. They just want to give something back and have wisely chosen me as their vessel. This was very important to me when I decided on a partner.

During the transition this year, you may have noticed that nothing has changed on Personal Finance Digest, mostly because I haven’t posted in a while. And I don’t intend to change anything in the future, other than publishing more posts about the Chase Sapphire Reserve®! $750 in free travel and elite travel benefits make this one a no-brainer! I think you’ll find that I’ll remain the same down-to-earth guy you’ve always known, a blogging everyman who tries to squeeze his 7’5″ frame into Emirates business class just like the next guy.

(H/T: MMS)