SmartyPig®: April 2010 Archive

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The following posts were made in April 2010. You may subscribe to the RSS feed for this archive if you would like to take your time reading through our posts.

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April 29, 2010 • Posted by Michael Ferrari

2010 April Twitter/Facebook Contest Winners

Today we found our winners by picking from the pool of correct answers to the following trivia question: SmartyPig gift cards come in 4 denominations, what are they? Not one wrong answer was given, seems as though everyone knows that you can get a gift card in the amount of $25, $50, $100 or $500.

We had about 180 answers, randomized to the top 20 and picked 3 winners:

Congrats to our winners: @natalietejeda, @jojoG522, @jackjohnson41

Thanks to everyone who played and good luck in next month's contest. Just so you know, here are the top 20: artificialrobot, wmharp, JenniferRyther, B_PhotoStudio, mikesum32, havana@ (Facebook), Juan_Medina@ (Facebook), AngelaDRC, dcmassar@ (Facebook), XineSoundclas, AdaliaDavis, RoboJenny, lvmuir@ (Facebook), j_hollender, jmccarthy300, parterburn, tanyahkeith@ (Facebook)

Tags: twitter

• smartypig gift cards

• $100 gift cards

• smartypig twitter contest

• twitter contest

1 Comment | |

April 27, 2010 • Posted by Michael Ferrari

April 2010 Twitter (and Facebook) Contest

It's that time of the month, again! SmartyPig will be giving away three $100 gift cards through our monthly Twitter contest - Thursday, April 29 at 11 CST. We will tweet a question and give our followers 15 minutes to reply for a chance to win.

SmartyPig gift card

The format:

After 15 minutes, we will be picking 20 random people with a number generator from the pool of correct answers.
We'll use an old favorite to help in selecting three gift card winners.
We'll post the process here on our blog, so everyone can follow along!

Make sure:

You're following us on Twitter or are a fan on Facebook
We'll ask the $100 question on Thursday, April 29 at 11am CST.
Answer the question correctly for your chance to win!
If you are answering via Facebook, you will need to email us the answer (email to be provided at contest time) within the 15 minute time frame.

Remember: if you don't already have a SmartyPig account, it's free to set one up! Winner must be in the US.

Good Luck!

Tags: twitter

• smartypig gift cards

• $100 gift cards

• smartypig twitter contest

• twitter contest

1 Comment | |

April 19, 2010 • Posted by Bob Weinschenk

We're Raising Rates!

The average online savings rate dropped more than 1% in the past year while the average credit card interest rate rose more than 1% in the past six months - costing consumers hundreds if not thousands of dollars. We here at SmartyPig feel it is high time to take care of the people who are trying hard to save and spend smarter rather than gouge them like everyone else. With the average interest rates on credit cards reaching 14.26% in February and poised to leap to 16-17% by fall, how can we not?

On May 19, 2010, the APY on balances* of less than $50,000 will go up to 2.15%, while balances* of $50,000 or more will see a rate decrease to 0.50% APY. This tiered structure will greatly benefit more than 95% of our customers who are working hard towards their goals and using our redemption program to earn even more cash when they reach those goals. While a small portion of our users will see a rate decrease based on their limited use of the service, we feel strongly that our mission will greatly benefit our core customers who are saving for various milestones in their everyday lives.

See, when we recently went over some ideas with a few of our customers, what we overwhelmingly heard was this: Help the people who use SmartyPig the way it was designed - everyday people with everyday needs and wants - by giving them a higher rate, more cash incentives and the royal treatment usually reserved for high-balance customers at big banks who typically crush young, working people with fees and gimmicks while lending a deaf ear.

SmartyPig would be nothing without these folks. We applaud them for wanting to change for the better and having the courage as well as the resolve to make it happen. We are going to work as hard as you to help you get to where you want to go and make sure you stay there.

Please let me know at any time how we can be of service or how we can make an even better SmartyPig. Your continued support is greatly appreciated and, as always, best of luck with your goals!

For additional information, please click here to read the complete press release.

Oh and one more thing: The only time we ever make money is when our customers make money. With our decision to focus on our goal-oriented customers, we hope to help you earn even more.

Bob Weinschenk, CEO
bob@smartypig.com

*Balances: For purposes of calculating balances for determination of the rate tier that applies, total balances of all goals within your SmartyPig profile will be aggregated.

**** UPDATE by Bob Weinschenk - April 19, 2010: 10:20 pm CST ****

I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to post on our blog. All comments are appreciated and help us create a better product.

To clarify, there was no intent to spin a bad story (the rate decrease for deposits over $50K) into a positive (the rate increase for deposits under $50K). We made a change that positively affected 95+% of our customers and stated the truth. To the 5% of our customers who could experience a rate decrease (if deposits are not brought below $50K) in no way shape or form was there an intention to miscommunicate the facts. Also, we truly hope to keep your business. We are just unable to pay above market interest rates for balances above $50K. We hope you will maintain a balance of under $50K, enjoy our industry leading rates, and further use our vendor redemption programs to receive cash boosts of up to 12%.

I've received a number of requests for the rationale behind our decision today and felt it appropriate to address it further here:

We live in a multi-tiered interest rate world. The base of this tier is called Fed Funds. This is the interest rate at which private depository institutions (mostly banks) lend balances to other depository institutions, usually overnight. Another way to look at this - it's the interest rate banks charge each other for loans. Today the Fed Funds rate sits at 25 basis points (bps) or 0.25%. Consider this to be the base interest rate. SmartyPig lives just above this rate (We are not a CD, for example; our customers can take their money out at any time without penalty) and hence our banking partners are limited by state and federal regulation as to how these funds can be invested or loaned out. So here's the math - we were paying 2.01% and could get between 0.5% and 0.75% for our deposits. Any difference comes at a cost.

So how does SmartyPig make money? I can assure you that SmartyPig has never made any money on our customers' deposits. We make our money through our redemption program. Our customers get cash back boosts of up to 12% and we get a marketing fee for the transaction - it's that simple. We can use some of this marketing fee to boost interest rate for our customers, which is what we've chosen to do on an across the board basis up until now.

We've learned two things after the past 24 months of operation. First, 95% of our customers have deposits below $35K and second these customers tend to use our redemption program. These two facts were the reason behind the decision we made. Like you, I have a goal, as well - mine is to grow SmartyPig and provide our core customers with the best product possible. It wouldn't be possible without this change.

Thanks,
Bob
bob@smartypig.com

Tags: smartypig

• interest rate

167 Comments | |

April 1, 2010 • Posted by Michael Ferrari

VIDEO: Customer Convert Cuts Up Cards!

"You know that feeling when you hear about something and you want to SHOUT it from the rooftops for everyone to hear? Well, that's how I feel about this new online piggy bank/social media tool/cool new concept called SmartyPig."

Rachel Naugle of the Republic of Austin told us pointblank that SmartyPig is a life changer. As you can watch in the video below, where Rachel sits down with our CEO, Bob Wienschenk and me, Rachel has been a life-long slave to the plastic and a victim of the trappings of having a "buy now, pay later" mindset.

No longer!

Writes Rachel in her blog: "(The SmartyPig guys) really sold me on their concept of being able to set up a savings goal that I could share with my family and friends, allowing them to track my progress, cheer me on and contribute. With consumer interests their top priority, they want to encourage good spending and saving habits. My heart just melted a little bit…" Why? Because if Rachel and her husband want to take their much-deserved 10-year anniversary trip without paying for it the next 10 years, they need to start saving now.

Rachel created a SmartyPig account, set up the goal, and began making small transfers from her checking account into her Smarty Pig account once every two weeks, and then more on payday when she has access to a bit more. "I think about how excited my husband and I will be next year, relaxing on our anniversary, enjoying each others' company, and knowing that the only thing waiting for us when we get back is our kids - and not a credit card bill. That will be such a GREAT feeling," she goes on. And then to make sure she stays true to herself and her goal, she does away with her cards once and for all.

Are you like Rachel and in need of some scissors to keep you on the right path of smart saving and spending? We'd love to hear your story and see your video today!

Thanks,
Mike Ferrari, SmartyPig co-founder
@mferrari

Tags: smartypig

• credit cards

• rachel naugle

• republic of austin

3 Comments | |