An online banking group has managed to combine finance and social networking by allowing users to display their savings goals and status on their Facebook or MySpace page.
US-based company SmartyPig has teamed up with ANZ to deliver what it calls a “virtual bank account,” into which the family and friends of users can also contribute money through the Facebook widget.
SmartyPig users flag savings goals in their account of a certain amount. The user can then choose to redeem the saved cash plus interest or put the money into a gift card to be used at any store of an ANZ retail partner.
The ANZ retail partners – which include stores such as JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and Myer – will also give an extra 6% if the user transfers money into a gift card.
ANZ general manager of deposits, Mandy Simpson, says the new venture is targeting Generation-Y in an attempt to teach financial responsibility and promote savings, rather than further their reliance on credit.
She says ANZ approached SmartyPig in the middle of last year, after being impressed with the product’s direction.
“Obviously deposit business is really important to us. And focusing on Generation-Y is an area we haven’t perhaps focused as strongly on in the past. SmartyPig really does appeal to the Generation-Y, but also parents and grandparents,” Simpson says.
“And obviously a big part of this is the social banking side – you can go public with it, and you can share your goal with family and friends. About 75% of the customer bases are definitely younger, under 40 years old, so it taps into the social networking side of it.
“It’s an innovative product, and we understand that our customers work with the web 2.0 framework and it’s interactive. It just makes sense to partner with a product that uses active engagement and interaction.”
SmartyPig was founded in the US by Jon Gaskell, who wanted to reverse the Generation-Y “spend-now” attitude.
Related stories:
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
