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SmartyPig®: April 2009 Archive

The following posts were made in April 2009. 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 9, 2009 • Posted by Michael Ferrari

SmartyPig Mobile Web Site Launched!

At SmartyPig, if there is one thing we try to over deliver on each and every day, it's listening and reacting quickly to our customers' feedback and suggestions. Not a day goes by where we don't discuss new and exciting suggestions from SmartyPig users. So when we told folks we were in the process of developing a mobile site, they were quick to suggest that we focus not only on the iPhone and iPod Touch but other mobile devices as well, such as Android G1 and the upcoming Palm Pre. So rather than develop a specific app for one mobile device, we set out to develop a mobile Web site that would try and retain the unique iPhone look and feel and deliver that to as many of the newer mobile devices as possible. And don't worry, for those phones that don't support more advanced mobile web browsers, the site will work just fine. It just might not be as pretty as the images below.

The SmartyPig mobile site can be found at m.smartypig.com. It provides a secure and easy way to quickly access your account information on the go.

View Your Goals
Saving money with SmartyPig is easy. But we all need encouragement now and again. With SmartyPig's new mobile site, you can quickly access and view the status of your goals and review your past transactions.

Add Money
So you have a couple goals setup, and you are diligently contributing to that goal each month. But what if you feel like you can actually add a bit more to a goal and you are nowhere near your computer. No worries. Our new mobile site makes adding additional funds to your goals quick and easy.


Friends
Sometimes it's fun to see what your friends are saving for. It gives you motivation to continue on the saving path. Our mobile site allows you to view your friends on SmartyPig, quickly see what they are saving for, and view the progress they have made.

Security
At SmartyPig we take security very seriously. The SmartyPig mobile site utilizes VeriSign® SSL 256-bit encryption, is certified daily to pass the McAfee® SECURE Security Scan, and has undergone comprehensive security auditing and testing by Primeon, a leader in enterprise-wide application security. Primeon works with 50 of the largest financial services enterprises in the United States.

And a big shout out to Brian Fling at pinch/zoom who helped us with the mobile site. He's one wickedly talented mobile Web designer and developer.

We look forward to building additional features into the mobile site. And as always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Mike Ferrari, co-founder

 

Tags: smartypig   •  mobile   •  iphone   •  ipod touch   •  android g1   •  palm pre

9 Comments | |

April 7, 2009 • Posted by Erica Adams

Charge-offs and Write-downs and Delinquency - Oh My!

 

Uncollected debt hit a record high, increasing 3% from February 2008 to February 2009. Write-downs increased 8.82%. Delinquency rates also rose above 6%. And aside from it all being grim news, what is even worse is that these numbers are expected to rise. In this piece from CNN, Moody's credit card index predicts, "... The overwhelming influence of the negative economic environment should continue driving delinquencies to record-high levels by mid-year." Pretty scary and disheartening, yes. But, more and more, our customers are telling us and the people they know that SmartyPig can help prevent these problems... permanently.

We understand that current economic times are more painful than ever, and many of us are nowhere near where we'd like to be financially. But we also know that two years ago, the average American spent $101 for every $100 he or she made, and today that same person is spending $95 and saving the other $5. That is tremendous progress; and it shows that there is no time like the present to begin creating good habits for the future. Saving money for bigger purchases instead of charging them and creating emergency funds for unexpected expenses are crucial elements in restoring financial stability across the country.

Credit lines are dwindling, available credit is shrinking and credit card companies are closing accounts in order to stabilize their bottom lines. Simply put: things will never be the same. It's time to start saving for purchases, saving for emergencies, or simply saving to start becoming a saver. Charging now and paying later has helped to tip over an already wobbly economy.

Jessica at pjmommy.com recently wrote that she and her husband use their credit cards for a majority of their purchases and they, luckily, are able to pay their entire bill each month. But after she found SmartyPig and she realized that saving for purchases is all the more rewarding once you've met your goal, charging to plastic just isn't all that great anymore. SmartyPig puts the fun back in your funds. And while you earn one of the highest APY's on the market, your money does the work for you. Setting up your account is simple, and once you've started saving for your goals, you'll wonder why you hassled with high interest rates and credit card payments in the first place.

 

 

Tags: smartypig   •  saving   •  money   •  creditcards   •  debt

1 Comment | |

April 1, 2009 • Posted by Erica Adams

Set It and Forget It

How many times have you told yourself that you'd like to save more? That you want to use the extra funds in your checking account to get started? That it's time to use the ease of the Internet to help guide you to a more prosperous future? That there is no better time like the present? And the... it goes nowhere. A few credit card charges here, some spare cash tossed around there and all of a sudden, you're back to wishing that "whole new you" will take charge - next month.  

In a recent guest post on Timothy Ferriss's blog (The Four Day Work Week), Ramit Sethi (of I Will Teach You To Be Rich) stresses the importance of automating your finances. Sethi points out that taking even the tiniest of steps forward in automating your finances may be the push needed to jumpstart good financial habits. It's as easy as just trying. Like the infomercial says, "Set it, and forget it."  

With SmartyPig, you decide how much you want to save, when you want to save it by, and SmartyPig does the rest. It's automatic. On the day of the month that you've chosen, SmartyPig will pull those funds from your existing savings or checking account and place the money toward your goal while earning one of the most competitive APY interest rates in the country. Need an emergency fund in these trying times? We do that. Need to get away for a weekend wedding of a friend? We do that. Need to simply start saving first before you buy something? We do that better than anyone, and make it more worthwhile than ever before. And if you do have extra cash, you always have the option to add money at any time, as well. With SmartyPig, we work tirelessly to make it as simple as possible for you to sit back and watch your piggybank fill up.

So what are you saving for?

 

 

Tags: smartypig   •  saving   •  money   •  automatic   • 

1 Comment | |