SmartyPig – Making saving a social activity

iFinance had the opportunity to sit down with Jon Gaskell, president and co-founder of SmartyPig. The actual interview occurred prior to Finovate, an event SmartyPig was presenting at, so Gaskell suggested that we wait until after the event due to important changes that were going to be announced.

SmartyPig is essentially a Web 2.0 financial services company – it brings saving money to the interactive online space. The impressive thing about SmartyPig is the fact that the foundation isn’t new or groundbreaking – the ability to save money has been around since commerce was created; yet the concept to achieve the desired result is.

“If we share pictures and ideas, why not share information about savings and finances,” Gaskell said. “In the end, it’s a lot easier to achieve a goal when you have a community. That’s what SmartyPig does, it allows you to build a community around your finances.”

For a company that started as a simple idea three years ago, SmartyPig has grown into a company that boasts $500 million in deposits, strategic relationships with nearly every major retailer in the world, and from a social standpoint – 4,500 Twitter followers & 2,000 Facebook fans. And all of this with $0 spent on advertising

“We’ve grown based solely on being a social company. Our service allows for customer-to-customer interaction,” Gaskell said. “The idea of savings has gone from being foreign to something that’s being considered. As a result, our best ideas are coming from our customers. It’s a no-brainer that if your customers are talking, you should be listening.”

As the social space continues to grow and evolve, SmartyPig is well-positioned to reap the benefits of the increased convergence toward a social and interactive lifestyle. Recently, they announced the ability to link Twitter and Facebook accounts to your SmartyPig account so they automatically send an update whenever you contribute money to your savings goals. Additionally, the addition of Bob Weinschenk, a Silicon Valley veteran, as CEO provides key leadership and proven experience.

“We feel we’re just getting started. We hope to be in a lot of places in 24 months,” Gaskell said. “Nothing can slow us down if we stay focused and continue to innovate in the social/financial space. Our perspective bank partners’ ability to pull the trigger so we can begin to build SmartyPig in a global sense does provide a certain set of understandable challenges, as there are many chains of command. But we feel confident we can be up and running in any language and currency inside of 90 days.”