Although RateCity makes money from commission on products and listings, and on sponsorship agreements, RateCity's content division works with editorial independence from the rest of the business, which helps ensure that what it writes is free from commercial distraction. This includes content types including (but not limited to) the following:
News & current affairs content
RateCity regularly publishes news stories and articles, typically based around the happenings of the financial industry in Australia. Its team goes to great lengths to check each story, ensuring compliance between members of the staff, and fact checking any elements of the story which may be flagged as questionable.
In the event that reporting has been found to be inaccurate, the team will go back and take note of any changes, rectifying and amending where needed, and storing subsequent changes in a compliance register for accountability. However sponsors and advertisers do not decide on any news and current affairs content being published at RateCity, and no correspondence will be entered into.
Key explainers
Across each category and vertical RateCity represents, the team explore the depths of what answers the subject to help you understand it better. From critical questions to in-depth information, RateCity's explainer pages can be found across key terms on its site.
For every page in question, the editorial team ensures content is told from a balanced point of view without advice, and matches the company requirement of compliance. If information is innaccurate, much like it does in news and articles, a log is written to the compliance register, and information is updated and amended accordingly.
However, neither sponsors nor advertisers assist with any of the content written for key explainers, and thus these sections do not see commercial interference in any sense.
Guides
Long-form content can be found in RateCity explainers, but they can also be found in RateCity guides, with at least one found in nearly every category RateCity works across. Every guide seeks to understand the category as a whole and provide a general form of guidance for readers to understand the area, providing a starting form of research.
Like other areas the editorial team works in, however, there is no interference or distraction from sales when guides are written, edited, or published.
Sponsored content
The RateCity editorial team works closely with the sales and marketing teams at RateCity, but is by no means beholden to what these respective teams may wish or prefer for the content. As such, companies choosing to sponsor material for the RateCity website will not choose the direction for writers, nor will they dictate the content.
Sponsored content can include written material, audio, and video, and sponsored content can be paid for by clients and sponsors. The subject matter can be suggested by the sponsor, however payment does not dictate directive, nor does it necessitate it. The editorial team retains full control over content direction within sponsored content, and no content goes online at the behest of a sponsor or advertiser.
