SmartyPig is a unique online bank (or “piggybank,” as they call themselves) designed to help users save towards a specific goals of their choosing. Because they are an online bank and do not have the overhead of a traditional institution, they are able to offer very competitive yields and no fees on their savings accounts.
While SmartyPig’s savings accounts are meant to help you save for specific goals, they do not carry with them the withdrawal limitations associated with traditional “club” savings accounts. You can withdrawal some or all of your money or move funds from one savings goal to another at any time. The only withdrawal limitation is the federally-mandated maximum of six withdrawals per account per statement cycle. This means that you can withdrawal funds from each individual goal up to six times a month.
SmartyPig deposits are held and insured through Sallie Mae Bank, an FDIC-insured institution.
Related Posts
4/21 - SmartyPig Boosts Rate On SmartyPig Savings
1/30 - Smartypig Savings Account Rate Increases
9/6 - Smartypig Deposits Will Be Moving To Sallie Mae Bank
6/20/13 - SmartyPig Savings Account One Year Anniversary of 1.00%
6/19/12 - SmartyPig Savings Account Yield Increases to 1.00%
6/19/12 - Smartypig Rate Rises To 1.0%
5/24/12 - Used to Give Savings Bonds as Gifts? Consider SmartyPig Gift Cards
1/31/12 - Details Of Closing A SmartyPig Account
12/2/11 - SmartyPig Announces a Major Rate Cut
6/2/11 - SmartyPig Announces Major Rate Cut
6/2/11 - SmartyPig Is Cutting Its Savings Account Rate to 1.10% APY
4/18/11 - SmartyPig Savings Account: Gift for Grads & Improvements for Cashing Out Goals
1/7/11 - Changing Business Model And Future Rates At SmartyPig?
1/3/11 - SmartyPig Quietly Cuts its Savings Account Rate
11/30/10 - SmartyPig Gift Card for a Holiday Gift
9/27/10 - Is SmartyPig's Cash Boost Worthwhile?
9/25/10 - Future Interest Rates At Smartypig?
9/3/10 - SmartyPig Announces Rate Cut - Savings Account Yield Remains Competitive
9/2/10 - Smartypig Is Cutting Its Rates To 1.75% APY Effective Sept. 7, 2010
8/10/10 - Tips and Warnings about the SmartyPig Savings Account
8/3/10 - SmartyPig Savings Account Review
6/7/10 - SmartyPig's Deposits Will Be Held by BBVA Compass
5/31/10 - SmartyPig Gift Card for a Graduation Gift
5/18/10 - Reminder for Those with SmartyPig Accounts
4/27/10 - Important Note about SmartyPig's Soon-to-Be Rate Tier
4/19/10 - SmartyPig Will Be Raising its Savings Account Rate But Will Cap Top Rate
3/18/10 - SmartyPig Account Opening Review
1/27/10 - Problem with 1099 from SmartyPig?
12/5/09 - Update on SmartyPig's High-Yield Savings Account
8/14/09 - SmartyPig Savings Account Rate Scheduled to Drop from 2.75% to 2.01%
8/14/09 - Update on SmartyPig's High Yield Savings Account
5/28/09 - High Yield Savings Account with Some Twists at SmartyPig
10/27/08 - Improvements to SmartyPig's High Yield Savings Account
I Love Smartypig
I have never had a problem with SmartyPig and have had an account there for about 3 years, I have saved and used the money to pay off 2 cars and put a down payment on a house. I have the money automatically withdrawn and forget that it's there until I need it - I like that I can't get to it immediately. It takes 1-2 days to withdraw your money but I don't consider this "Jumping through hoops" it's just the way it is (and it's not a secret). You aren't locked into anything you just can't cash out partial amounts- there is a way around, you can create a new goal and split your funds if you only want to withdraw a portion (this may be jumping through hoops but it keeps me from withdrawing on a whim). You don't have to do anything to get the promised rate (there is a limit though, the interest rate drops once you reach $50K in your account so just keep it below that and you are fine- and I felt like this was all disclosed up front, I wasn't surprised by anything) The interest rate can't be beat. I have never cashed out money into retailer gift cards but it's a unique option (and bonus money) if you were going to buy something from one of the partners anyways.
Not the best to bank with
I've been using Smarty Pig for about 3 years now and they were pretty good until they switched to using Sallie Mae for their services. Since they've switched I seem to always have issues logging into my account, always having to reset my password every time I go to login even when I know my password is right. And I despise the fact that in order to reset my password I have to call customer service versus being able to have a link sent to my email or have a code texted or emailed to me in order to reset it. I wouldn't have such an issue with having to call customer service if it weren't for the fact that usually when I call customer service nobody picks up and they require me to leave a message. And usually they don't call you back until days later. To me this is a bit alarming because it makes me feel like if I can't get access to my own money who knows what they could be doing to it in the time they get around to calling me to help me reset my password. This means I can't check my account balance or see if anyone's tried to compromise my account in any way. I also do not care for the fact that with the savings account it takes forever the funds to clear. If I put money in my savings account on the first of the month it should not take until halfway through the month for the funds to be cleared for me to be able to make any changes with whatever money I have in my account.
Soccer Mom's Bank
System is strange, ACH transfers take forever, and the "culture" of the bank is clearly oriented towards a certain kind of customer. Rates are decent but equal to those offered elsewhere.
Also, you have to click on a cartoon frog to make your deposits.
Awful - I Don't Trust Them
I started an account because of their 'high' interest rate at the time.
The site looks childish, but I was able to create an account without issues. I linked my other bank account to make an initial deposit. 5 days later, I saw the small deposits (old verification method) and attempted to login to my SmartyPig account. The site continually called me a 'bot' (even with the old picture verification).
Days later, I verified my password that I set up and tried it again. Same result - I'm a 'bot'.
So, figuring I wrote down my password wrong, I had it reset (through the site). Reset the password, waited 5-10 minutes as recommended (why?!?) and tried again. Same thing! I finally called to cancel my account and was told "the website is down, even we can't log in" and to call later. Really. There was no notice or warning on the website!
Don't trust your money with this bank. This experience is making me think this is a data collection site and I'm going to put a notice on my linked bank and credit agencies.
Data as of Q1 2021
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 58177 |
| Year Established | 2005 |
| Employees | 1639 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 8.56% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 106.15% |
| Annual Interest Income | $439.1MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $30.75B$31.78B |
| Loans | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $20.39B$21.71B |
| Deposits | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $23.77B$24.72B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $2.31B$2.12B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $1.18B$1.67B |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $67.6MM$89.2MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $0$0 |