SmartHippo allows individuals to use the power of a community to save money when shopping for rates on financial products and services. Members of SmartHippo can see real rates reported by real consumers, and sort through banks based on feedback posted by other members of the community. SmartHippo.com allows any individual to post information and feedback on the rate they received, and to compare rates with other members of the community with similar profiles. The site launched in open beta at the TechCrunch40 conference on September 17, 2007.