December 6th, 2009

Free Savings Account For Your Savings Goals: SmartyPig Review


SmartyPig, high yield savings

When it comes to savings tools, I’ve seen quite a number of gimmicks out there from various web sites, companies and financial institutions that try to entice people to save more. For the most part, I think that these tools and ideas are quite helpful, and do benefit the end consumer. Many of them put forth a variety of ideas that can be used well together.

Take for instance these products and services: there’s the interesting budgeting tool that incorporates features to help you reduce debt more effectively (check out YNAB). There are the rewards credit cards that let you earn cash and bonus points when you spend. Ditto with certain online shopping sites. There’s the credit card that helps you save for your child’s 529 account and allows others to contribute to your savings as well (aka Upromise). There are now high yield checking accounts that reward you with higher rates when you perform certain bank transactions. And then there’s SmartyPig.

So What Exactly Is SmartyPig?

So here’s a new twist on online bank accounts: SmartyPig is another option for savers. It’s an FDIC secure free online savings account that is meant to encourage you to save for your financial goals in a more concrete fashion and which allows you to invite others to contribute to your savings goals as well. It reminds me of Upromise, because it invites the possibility of sharing a savings goal with family and friends, thus turning the task of saving money into a social activity, if you so choose.

Try out SmartyPig by visiting this link or read more about them below.

Is this any different from having a savings account like ING Direct Orange Savings Account, for instance, which lets you categorize your funds by using subaccounts? It is, in the sense that the emphasis is on getting you to automate your savings program for the clear purpose of reaching particular goals. Certainly, there are many ways to fulfill this same end, but in my opinion, SmartyPig makes it more visual and interesting. To see what I mean, let’s review some of their specific features.

Free Savings Account For Your Savings Goals: SmartyPig Features

Here are some of the main incentives they have for their customers:

1. Get a free account.
This should be a standard feature of savings accounts.

2. Save for your goals.
This savings vehicle aims to help you visualize and focus on your savings goals. Once you create an account, you can then add any number of goals and manage them. The purpose is to set up an automatic savings program to get that goal funded. Your goal should be of an amount between $250 and $250,000.

smartypig goals
SmartyPig Goal Details

 

smartypig goals
Visualizer Feature

3. Redeem your savings.
Once your savings goal amount is reached, what then? Well, your recurring contributions will stop and you’ll have the choice of redeeming your savings in one of three ways (or a combination thereof):

  • Apply your savings to a retail card such as Macy’s, Amazon.com or Travelocity to receive up to an additional 12% on your money.
  • Put your savings on the SmartyPig MasterCard® debit card.
  • Or return the amount to your bank.
smartypig goals
Redeeming Your Savings

While this is all good, note that there’s nothing much that’s new here with regards to many of the features and rewards they offer. For instance, debit cards come with most savings accounts these days (check HSBC Direct) and you can get cash back reward savings with similar returns from a shopping site like Ebates.

4. Earn 2.01% on your savings.
The interest rate you’ll get by saving with SmartyPig is a reasonable 2.01%. It’s in line with what you’ll receive from high interest savings accounts these days.

5. Have others contribute to your savings goal.
This is where SmartyPig distinguishes itself from any other savings account. Anyone with a SmartyPig account is conveniently set up to receive cash gifts. A cash gift is a practical option you may want to consider when a birthday or a holiday rolls around.

smartypig goals
Social Features: Facebook, Twitter, Email

Other nice extras include their integration with well-known money management sites like Mint.com, Wesabe, Geezeo, etc., as well as the availability of a mobile interface.

In conclusion, I think that while SmartyPig has some redundant features that you’ll find in other savings and spending tools that are already available out there, I do think it’s a great vehicle for those who would like to get truly focused on saving for a purpose. And it’s worth signing up for if you’ve got generous friends and family!

For more good stuff about SmartyPig, do check out their site.



Free Savings Account For Your Savings Goals: SmartyPig Review

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 8:18 pm and is filed under Banking & Money Management, Deals / Offers / Reviews, Dubli, Dubli Networking Business, Frugality & Budgeting, Herbert Brown, Herbert Brown jr, Herbert L Brown Jr. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.