From ‘Wedding Gown’ to ‘Nursing School,’ digital Buckets help people stay focused on the things that matter most to them
When people personalize their savings goals by naming them, they save more, according to customer data from Ally Bank, the largest U.S. online bank and a division of Ally Financial. Since their introduction in February, more than one million digital Buckets have been created by Ally’s online savings account customers, putting names to their goals and saving, on average, six times more than other savers.
“Ten months ago, we set out to tackle America’s savings challenge by arming our customers with digital tools to help improve their savings behaviors, and it’s clearly working,” said Diane Morais, president of consumer and commercial banking products at Ally Bank. “We know we are on to something big with these tools, so we’re pressing harder to deliver new enhancements and innovations that will make saving easier and more gratifying for each and every customer.”
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Among Ally Bank’s most popular savings tools are Buckets, digital envelopes that let customers personalize what they are saving for. Nearly a quarter of customers who’ve opened an Ally Bank Online Savings Account since February have created at least one Bucket. Of the million Buckets created so far, the most popular is the one that lets customers name it themselves. From ‘Fur Baby’ to ‘Learn German’ to “Hot Tub,’ customers are actively engaged in personalizing their goals. Following the ‘Make Your Own’ category, ‘Emergencies,’ ‘Vacations,’ ‘Home’ and ‘Vehicles’ round out the top five. Notably, Americans are not just saving for themselves but are also saving for others, with ‘Charity’ making a strong showing.
“When people visualize their savings goals, their motivation increases exponentially. That’s exactly why we developed Buckets, because seeing really is believing,” said Anand Talwar, deposits and consumer strategy executive at Ally Bank. “We’ve tapped into something fundamentally human: personalizing a goal makes us more likely to set a priority and work toward it.”
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