SmartyPig: Online bank account designed to help/make you save

by Brad Linder Apr 3rd 2008

Want to save up for a new house, car, or computer, but don't have the self discipline to set aside a bit of your paycheck every month? SmartyPig is an online banking service designed to help.

Here's how it works. You set up an account, tell SmartyPig how much you want to save, and when you want to save it by, and the service will tell you how much you need to set aside each month. You can then set up an online savings account with a pretty decent interest rate to start saving. Like ING Direct, HSBC Direct, and other online bank accounts, SmartyPig offers higher interest rates than your typical neighborhood bank because the company doesn't have the same administrative overhead costs as a bricks and mortar operation. SmartyPig also partners with a real bank (West Bank), and the accounts are FDIC insured.

In addition to helping you setup a savings account to reach your goal, SmartyPig offers one more feature. Other users can pitch in to help you save. Say your friends, relatives, or coworkers really want you to have that big screen TV so that your football parties aren't as dull as your charades shindigs. They can transfer money from their accounts to yours for free, or make contributions with a credit card, which will be subject to a 2.9% processing fee.

[via Somewhat Frank]

Tags: banking, money, saving, savings, smartypig

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Joe B said 9:36PM on 4-03-2008

This post implies that deposits with ING Direct and HSBC Direct are not FDIC insured, which is not the case.
And both are divisions of major banking corporations (in the top 10 of Forbes' Global 2000), so it's not like you're throwing your money into a flimsy web start-up.

kingkool68 said 11:27AM on 4-04-2008

It's pretty easy to set up automatic deductions and then you don't have to even think about it. If you are interested in more of this stuff check out David Bach's book Automatic Millionare -> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767914104?ie=UTF8&tag=thebloofrushe-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0767914104

rushangshah said 11:36AM on 4-04-2008

Neat idea. But unfortunately, I'm not sure that it's novel.

Other banking institutions already have what's called a "Savings Plan" feature. You can identify how much you'd like to save and the plan helps you stay on track and create the necessary ancillary accounts you need.

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