User:Carly1803/sandbox

= PlatinumWealth = PlatinumWealth.co.za is a South African consumer finance information and discussion website founded by entrepreneur Erik Thiart in February 2016 with the aim of providing free financial information and journalistic financial articles, with the purpose of enabling South Africans to save money.

Overview
The website is one of South Africa’s largest independent money websites. The website does not appear to have any advertisements and considers itself as an unbiased platform.

Newswire
The website has a journalistic Newswire where significant companies are seen publishing their work. The website claims to have an agreement that is a first in South Africa and also free.

Investment Clubs
PlatinumWealth.co.za has developed a process of communication aimed specifically at investment clubs with members across South Africa. The website consists of hidden sections that only the members of each club they belong to are able to see. Some resources are shared amongst the clubs to help each other and to further the means of communication.

The Platinum Wealth Investment club consists of members residing from Cape Town all the way to Pretoria. Each member paid R1000 to join the club, and the monthly contribution is R255 per month. The club uses the Unit System to keep track of each members’ accumulated wealth. They also made a bunch of material available to the public for educational purposes showing the thought process that went into the decisions that were made in the club to serve as an example for other clubs in South Africa.

Financial E-Books
In January 2017 a discussion was started on the Platinumwealth forum on how to start investing on the JSE. From there the website founders took the initiative to collaborate with industry experts to write a comprehensive E-book on how to invest on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) aimed specifically at the average person. The book serves as an easy to understand guide - touching on how to choose a bank account, to budgeting accordingly all the way to using a trusted broker to buy stocks.

The e-book features the South African unit trust provider Sygnia and the low-cost broker EasyEquities.

Forums
The website has forums dedicated to investing and personal finance. The main aim of the forums is to create a space where people can ask financial questions without fear or upfront costs. Theirs is a large message portrait throughout the website for free financial education which can be seen in how the forum questions are answered.

Some of the forums enabled a sort of consumer advocacy to voice their disagreement and frustration with some of the larger financial institutions.

Since its launch, Platinumwealth has expanded its forums to include discussion on other financial topics such as Cryptocurrencies, banking and credit cards.

Cryptocurrencies
In February 2017 the website added a section entirely dedicated to cryptocurrencies and most notably was one of the first online forums in South Africa to add a dedicated section for cryptocurrencies.

The forum attracted representatives from South Africa’s largest Bitcoin exchange Luno to participate on the forum alongside South Africa’s largest Ethereum exchange Ice3X also having an active presence on the forum.

Prominent Contributors
Magda Wierzycka - CEO of Sygnia.co.za. Sygnia is an innovative FinTech company based in South Africa and listed on the main board of the JSE. The company provides asset management, stockbroking, and administration services, as well as a wide range of savings products, to institutional and retail clients.

Simon Brown – Simon is a regular commentator in online, print, TV and radio media, most notably Finweek, Justonelap and Business Day.

Werner van Rooyen - Head of marketing at Luno.com South Africa’s biggest Bitcoin Exchange.

Leigh Riley - Sales Trader/Institutional Sales at IG South Africa. Leigh is also featured on SABC3 News - Market Headlines and Market Commentary, CNBC - Market Report and Commentary, Business Day TV (BDTV) - Market Report and Commentary, Investing.com and IG TV London (Intl).