Acorns and the Saving Habit Banks Can Build

Acorns isn’t a bank, yet customers have invested more than $7.3 billion through it from spare change alone. Jim Marous has used an Acorns account since 2018 and says his existing banks never asked to help him build a savings plan, despite regular transfers to Acorns several times a month. Bank of America introduced a round-up program in 2005, seven years before Acorns was formed, and as far as Marous can tell, most banks and credit unions still haven’t made regular saving as easy as it can be.

Marous walks through what Acorns gets right in the order a customer experiences it: a first step of a few cents, a commitment through a paycheck split and Money Manager, and visible progress along the way. Acorns charges $4, $8 or $12 a month, and Marous leaves the fee as a decision for each bank and credit union. He explains what makes customers trust automation enough to leave it on, including knowing how much will move and when, and he points to Ally’s Surprise Savings as an example.

Marous offers three questions for any savings tool: how many customers turn it on, how many are still contributing six months later, and how much their balances have grown. He notes that a transfer inside one institution creates no new deposit, so retention, additional money, and engagement are the outcomes to measure, and he suggests starting with customers who already send regular amounts to Acorns, Robinhood, or Ally. He cites Chime’s automatic 10% transfer from direct deposits and Casco Federal Credit Union’s partner-built investing as proof the pieces already exist.

About: Banking Transformed is hosted by Jim Marous, a top five banking industry influencer and Co-Publisher of The Financial Brand. Banking Insights episodes deliver the most important strategic ideas in under ten minutes, for the executive who wants the takeaway without the deep dive. Subscribe to the Digital Banking Report at digitalbankingreport.com.