Do you want to get a piggy bank for your kids so that you can teach them financial responsibility? If so, you can get your kids an online piggy bank account at www.smartypig.com.au, the official website of SmartyPig Australia.What is SmartyPig? It is a savings program offered by the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, a major bank in Australia. Smartypig aims to help people who want to achieve a financial goal, for instance a dream vacation or a brand new car. When people want to buy an expensive luxury, some will save until they have enough money to buy, while others simply put the bill on their credit cards. The latter often leads to future financial problems from credit card debts. It helps you save up for your financial goals, and allows you to enjoy your luxurious purchase without worries and credit card debt. While an online piggy bank may not seem different from a conventional piggy bank on your table; the online version is better since you don’t need to pay anything to open a savings account at SmartyPig, and you can earn interest from the money deposited in your account. It provides a fun way to save money. Let’s take a look of the benefits of using SmartyPig.
SmartyPig Australia Review: www.smartypig.com.au
1. SmartyPig offers a pretty high annual percentage yield (APY). Currently, SmartyPig Australia offers 5.25% APY which is a good rate compared to other regular savings accounts.
2.It is free and easy to open a savings account at www.smartypig.com.au. You don’t need to pay any money to deposit or withdraw money from your account.
3. It is a fun way to save money for your specific goals. At SmartyPig, you can set a savings goal ranging from $250 to $100,000. You can deposit money regularly in your SmartPig account to gradually achieve your goal. The minimum initial deposit amount is $10.To learn more on how Smartypig Australia works, visit www.smartypig.com.au.
4.You can open your SmartyPig savings goal to the public and let your friends or family know what you are saving for. If they want to help you to reach your goal, they can contribute to your SmartyPig account as well. This will help you to reach your goal faster.
5. Redeeming your SmartyPig savings for SmartyPig partners gift cards will help you save more money. After reaching your saving goals at Smartypig Australia, you can transfer money back into your regular bank savings account, spend them using the SmartyPig debit card, withdraw your money on an ATM, or you can exchange them into SmartyPig partners gift cards with extra money credit added. For instance, if a SmartyPig partner offers 105% exchange rate, you can redeem $100 in your account to get $105 in its gift card. This will definitely help you save more money.
6.You can use it to teach your kids how to save money to get what they want. It will benefit your kids for their whole lives if they can learn how to be financially responsible. At this time, SmartyPig only allows people aged 16 years or older to open accounts. If you have a kid younger than 16, you can open an account for your kid and add him or her as a co-owner of the account so that he or she can contribute to the savings and watch the progress towards the savings goal.
Caveats of using www.smartypig.com.au
1. If your friends want to make a contribution to your account using a credit card, they have to pay a small percentage fee. Currently, the fee is 1.5% of the total transaction.
2. Gift cards are not as good as cash. Even though you can save more money by exchanging your SmartyPig money into gift cards under certain conditions, all of the gift cards come with terms and conditions. Make sure you carefully read them before making any decision.
3. SmartyPig Australia doesn’t allow withdraw your money by cheque. But you can transfer the money to your bank account.
4. Smartypig Australia only serves Australian residents. Smartypig saving program was lauched in 2008 in US. If you live in US and want to use Smartypig services, you can visit the Smartypig US site at www.smartypig.com.
In conclusion, if you want to save money for a specific goal or get your kid a piggy bank online, you should check out Smartypig Australia at www.smartypig.com.au.
Resources:
Customer complaints of Smartypig, here
SmartyPig Review at PCworld