Piggy Bank, Sweep and Round Up Bank Accounts

Piggy Bank Change and Bank Sweep Accounts

Sweep Accounts

12 years ago, we published the ‘No Brainer Savings Idea’ video.  This was quite simply copying was many of us have done over the years in saving £1 and £2 coins from your ‘lose’ change in a piggy bank at the end of each day.  We still do it and each year, our husband/wife directors save around £2,000 per year, that pays for a holiday each year. 

Cash v Card

That said, our directors prefer using cash to contactless payments as you can only spend what is in your pocket, you cannot overspend your budget if you do not have any more cash as opposed to card/contactless payments when it is so easy to ‘tap, tap, tap’.  In addition, it means bankers and algorithms cannot profile you.

Banking Habits Have Changed

More people today use contactless card and even ‘wallet’ payments using your smartphone.  We are fast becoming a cashless society, so the Piggy Bank saver is disappearing, and you should consider ‘sweeping’.

Sweep Accounts

Are offered by some banks to sweep excess balances in say your current account at the end of the month, to a separate savings account.  This is your alternative ‘piggy bank’.

Sweep accounts are offered by several ‘high street’ bank brands including First Direct, Barclays, Lloyds, Metro, NatWest and Virgin.  There are many other banks and building societies that may offer the same facility for you to ‘sweep’ excess balances into:

• Another savings account or ISA
• Your mortgage, to pay it offer quicker.
• Some ‘challenger’ banks that offer an investment platform also offer a sweep into market related investments.
• With the advent of ‘open banking’ you can even sign up to apps that can track your bank account activity and sweep accounts to a selected balance each month.

Round Up Cards

Some apps even offer you the ability to ‘round up’ each transaction to the nearest £1 or £5 etc, and the excess is then swept into your selected savings account.

We suggest you should always have a ‘sweep’ facility of some sort as it will create an easy habit of saving, which may serve you well as an emergency fund or even saving for birthdays or Christmas.