Comments on: SmartyPig’s Exhorbitant Fees Help You Save

By: Warlock

Warlock — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:13:18 +0000

I have a question, according to the T&C (below) interest is compounded daily but only on the pricipal in your account, which seems to only grow when interest is “posted” which is quarterly…is this a way to seriously reduce compounding or am I reading it incorrectly? Please answer only if you know (ie are a member and can look at a statement to determine or if you work for SmartyPig/WestBank)

Compounding and CreditingFrequency – Interest will accrue daily. Interest will be posted to your account quarterly.

Effect of closing an account – If you close your account before interest is credited you will receive the accrued interest.

Balance Computation MethodDaily Balance Method. We use the daily balance method to calculate the interest on your account. This method applies a daily periodic rate to the principal amount in the account each day.

Thanks in advance for your considered response

- Warlock

By: HisMoney

HisMoney — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:51:46 +0000

I had some of these same concerns. It appears that SmartyPig is listening to their customers and taking steps to reduce some of the fees. I was a little concerned at first at having to either pay to get my money out or wait for the debit card. However, I’m getting a decent return on my money and am putting money towards specific things that I am intending to purchase instead of using a credit card, not using it as emergency savings, etc… I will also check prices on those items and if I get a comparable price on it through one of their partners, that’s an extra 5% return!

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:18:22 +0000

And there you go…

Jon and Mike have been all over the PF blogs. Seems like they have been taking the comments seriously and been making some very positive changes.

I signed up last week and say why not sign up? You’ll be getting 4.3% APY, and if you get a gift card from one of the retailers, that’ll be an extra (up to) 5%.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:13:46 +0000

The Co-Founders of SmartyPig have been responding to comments on the other blogs and have been stressing that they will be restructuring their fees. Look for posts from Jon Gaskell or Mike Ferrari. It looks like they will be eliminating the ~$5 fee for contributions to others goals if you have a SmartyPig account. They will be charging 2.9% flat for all outside contributions w/ credit card, which is basically similar to PayPal if you x-fer money to someone else and they move it into their bank account.

I, personally, don’t like the $25 fee if you transfer your $ into a bank account, but I understand that they want people to use their gift cards and retailers.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:09:29 +0000

Thanks for the post! To clear up a few things for your readers, first there is no fee to take the retail gift card or MasterCard debit card. Opening, funding and redeeming a goal with SmartyPig is absolutely FREE. As for public contribution fees, later today they will go away for SmartyPig customers. SmartyPig customers will be able to make contributions to other SmartyPig users’ goals and buy SmartyPig gift cards at NO cost if they use their existing SmartyPig funding source, i.e. their checking or savings account. The fee to make a contribution or buy a SmartyPig gift card (called “Give the Gift of Savings”) using a credit card will be set at a flat 2.9% (basically the same as using PayPal), and we are also planning on releasing a few other payment options and redemption options in the near future, as well, so that using SmartyPig will be economical for all users. I invite anyone here to e-mail me at support@smartypig.com with any questions. Much appreciation, Jon Gaskell, Co-Founder SmartyPig

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:11:09 +0000

That $5 charge seems to make the whole site lose it’s purpose. It instead becomes just another online bank, with admittedly a higher interest rate than most (which I’m sure will drop down next month after they’ve done all their press).

By: Stngy1

Stngy1 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:19:36 +0000

Apparently they are restructuring a lot of the fees, so you may want to revisit the website in a few days.

By: Pinyo

Pinyo — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:45:04 +0000

Yeah, I liked the concept but thought the fees were a bit much. I missed that $5 to get a card, that’s bad!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:23:53 +0000

From their FAQ:

“Making recurring monthly contributions to your SmartyPig savings goals is free using your current checking or savings account. There is a $4.95 processing fee if you make a contribution to someone else’s public SmartyPig savings goal.”

And there is no fee to have your funds put on a SmartyPig Check/ATM card. So really, if you really just use this as a savings account to fund your own goals, and when reaching the goal, get the funds on their ATM card, it won’t cost you a dime, except for any possible ATM fees for withdrawing the funds, or you could just use it like a debit card.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:15:53 +0000

The way I read it, the fee for contributing funds is only if a non-account holder gifts the money to fund a public goal. It says that account holders who make contributions to private goals can do so for free. So I guess if you’re relying on outside gifts to fund your goal, that 5 bucks is a bit of a raw deal, but you’re still just receiving a gift. You aren’t personally losing the money by saving yourself.

The other fees don’t seem too out of line. 27 for an overdraft, 25 to request a check might be a tad high, and 5 bucks to get a gift card isn’t terrible.

So I would think that if you use it as a primary means of saving for yourself, don’t overdraft your account, and only utilize obtaining a gift card when you’ve built up a sizable amount, it isn’t too bad since it can really personalize saving money.