Was reading Influx tonight and came across an article about the social network meets the bank :: Influxinsights. So I went on over to SmartyPig and thought it was kinda' interesting. I know a lot of companies have tried online wish lists before, but none of them have been all that successful if I remember correctly. So it'll be interesting to see how this model plays out.
One thing I'll say is this -- banks are one of those industries that seems damned determined to put themselves out of business by continuing down paths that they know rather then exploring ways they can do something new. That's why a bank like Chase will just increase ATM fees. In fact, on Thursday I walked 10 blocks to go to my Commerce bank rather then pay $3 to use the Chase ATM machine across the street. But rather then look at creating new services that are valuable to today's consumer, they'll just keep raising their fees and nickel & diming their customers to another bank. And companies like SmartyPig will experiment with new services and new ways to engage the audience.
And that's why companies like Kiva are changing the ways loans can be made and banks like Chase put their efforts into looking for new ways to charge their customers more. That's not innovation folks. Companies like SmartyPig and Kiva are.
SmartyPig is a simple, smart, fun way to save for a specific goal. Using groundbreaking technology and the latest in security standards, SmartyPig allows you to invite family and friends to contribute to your account, gives you additional incentive boosts from top retailers who sell exactly what you’re saving for AND *4.30% (APY) interest on the money you’re saving. Simple, Smart, Savings. SmartyPig!
Here's more from their site:
So we searched for something like a 529 Plan that would enable an individual or families to set specific savings goals and let them make distributions for particular items and events on a recurring basis. But what we envisioned did not exist. In fact, there was nothing even close. So we set out to create an innovative, on-line resource that would help us, and others, save for specific items and events. A safe and secure site where savings accounts are goal oriented.But we didn’t stop there. We thought, what if we could give our customers the opportunity to make their accounts public (or not), so that their mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, friends and other family members could help them save up, creating an opportunity to reach their savings goals even faster? We also knew it was important to give customers a competitive interest rate just like the big online banks (which we do), but what about delivering our customers’ savings plus interest on a flexible MasterCard® debit card (which can be used for cash, or anywhere MasterCard® is accepted), or giving them the option of realizing even bigger savings by having their money put on a best-in-class retail gift card that includes extra incentives when they reached their goal?
And so the concept of SmartyPig.com and its one-of-a-kind, patent-pending technology was born... and Saving Will Never be the Same.® You dream. You save. We do the rest, and make it worth your while like you’ve never thought possible.
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