They may also be a tool to draw lower-income households online and into the financial mainstream. If we can get back just 4 percent on our planned consumption, we can double the savings rate. A result is financial products geared mainly for higher-income people. By comparison, little is required of SaveDaily's microinvestors, other than a checking account and a credit card. SaveDaily's site offers its 6,000 clients two ways to invest with its mutual fund partners.
Clients can make direct deposits of any amount from their checking accounts by electronic transfer.
Pimco funds are generally marketed through financial planners and broker-dealers, who charge a fee or a commission, unlike SaveDaily. For people who realize they are under-saving, these loyalty rebate programs appear to be a way to start a nest egg without changing one's buying habits. A Citicorp survey showed that 80 percent of the population is interested in saving for either college or for retirement. The challenge, Mr. Lively said, will be to keep customers investing, to have a stable of national merchants in which people will shop and not suffer a nose dive in the stock market. Another risk would come from a competitor who already has high name recognition in either Internet commerce or finance, which could quickly dominate the nascent industry.