Neobank Savings Tools: How Round-Ups, Vaults, and Goal Buckets Help You Save Without Thinking

Most people want to save more money. But between bills, groceries, and unexpected expenses, it’s easy to tell yourself, "I’ll start next month." The truth? You don’t need more discipline. You need smarter tools. That’s where neobanks come in-with round-ups, vaults, and goal buckets that make saving feel like a side effect of living, not a chore.

How Round-Ups Turn Spare Change Into Real Savings

Round-ups are the quiet hero of neobank savings. Every time you swipe your card for $3.47, the app rounds it up to $4.00 and moves the extra 53 cents into savings. It sounds tiny. But if you spend $30 a day on coffee, lunch, and gas, that’s 15 round-ups a day. At an average of 75 cents each, you’re saving $11.25 weekly. In a year? Over $580-without touching your main account.

Modern apps don’t just round to the nearest dollar. Current lets you choose $1.25, $2, or even $5 increments. Varo’s new Predictive Round-Ups, launched in March 2025, analyze your spending patterns and adjust how much gets rounded up so you never accidentally overdraw. If you usually spend $4.80 on groceries, it might round up to $5.50 instead of $5.00-just enough to grow your savings without risking overdrafts.

Users on Reddit’s r/Neobanks report saving $287 a month on average just from round-ups, according to behavioral finance research from Wharton. The trick? You barely notice it. That’s the psychology: small amounts feel invisible. But they add up fast.

Vaults and Goal Buckets: Your Money, Organized

Round-ups are great for passive saving. But if you have a real goal-like a $2,000 emergency fund or a vacation in Bali-you need structure. That’s where vaults and goal buckets come in.

Think of them as digital jars inside your bank account. Monzo’s Savings Jars, introduced in 2017, let you name each one: "Car Repair," "Christmas Gifts," "Dog Vet." You can even add emojis. Each jar has its own balance, and you can fund them with round-ups, fixed transfers, or a percentage of your paycheck. As of 2025, 87% of Monzo users have at least one jar active.

Starling Bank in the UK uses similar "vaults," but with a twist: they’re fixed-term. You lock money away for 12 months to earn 3.80% AER. That’s great if you’re saving for something specific and don’t want to touch it. But if you need access, it’s a drawback.

Step, the teen banking app, uses goal buckets to teach financial responsibility. Teens get 4.51% APY on savings-but only if they deposit $500 or more each month. It’s not just about saving. It’s about building habits early.

Which Neobank Gives You the Best Return?

Not all savings tools are created equal. The real difference isn’t just how they work-it’s how much they pay.

Varo leads the pack with 5.00% APY on all balances, no minimum deposit required. That’s more than most traditional banks offer on high-yield accounts. Current offers up to 4.00% APY, but only if you get $200+ in direct deposits each month. Bunq in the EU gives 2.01%-3.01% with no monthly fee, making it ideal for users who want flexibility over high returns.

Here’s how the top players stack up:

Varo’s 5% APY is rare. At that rate, $1,000 in savings earns $50 in a year. But here’s the catch: most people don’t save $1,000 through round-ups alone. The average user saves $300-$500 annually. At 4% APY, that’s $12-$20 in interest. Not life-changing-but it’s free money you didn’t have to chase.

What No One Tells You About These Tools

There are hidden limits. Most neobanks cap automated transfers at $500 per day. If you’re trying to save $1,000 for a holiday, and your round-ups only hit $300 a week, you’ll need to manually bump it up. Varo’s support team says 23% of new users get confused by this limit and think the app broke.

Revolut users reported lost savings in March 2025 when their vault transfers froze during a system update. No warning. No email. Just silence for three weeks. That’s the risk of relying on third-party banking partners. Varo and Step use Evolve Bank & Trust. Monzo partners with Prepaid Financial Services. If those banks have downtime, your savings pause.

And then there’s Regulation D. In the U.S., federal rules limit savings account transfers to six per month. But neobanks bypass this by using partner banks that don’t enforce the rule. That’s why you can do daily round-ups without penalty. But if you start manually moving money out of your vaults too often, you might get flagged. It’s not a penalty-it’s a system quirk.

Real People, Real Results

On Trustpilot, Varo has a 4.3 out of 5 rating. Users love the no-minimum APY. One wrote: "I used to keep $800 in a checking account earning nothing. Now it’s in Varo, making $40 a year. I didn’t even notice the change."

Monzo’s Savings Jars have a cult following. u/SavingSavvy on Reddit said: "I set up five jars-emergency fund, car, travel, gifts, and "just in case." I filled my $2,000 emergency fund in eight months. I didn’t feel like I was cutting back. I just spent normally, and the money disappeared into savings."

But not everyone’s happy. Step’s teen users give it 2.8 out of 5 on Common Sense Media. Why? "I have to deposit $500 every month just to get the 4.51% APY," one teen wrote. "I work part-time. That’s half my paycheck. It feels like a trap."

That’s the flip side. These tools are powerful-but only if they fit your life. If you can’t meet the deposit requirements, you’re better off with a simple high-yield savings account at a traditional bank.

What’s Next? AI, Challenges, and CBDCs

Neobanks aren’t stopping. In April 2025, Monzo launched "Jar Challenges"-you invite friends to compete to fill a goal bucket fastest. It turns saving into a game. And it works: users who join challenges save 22% faster on average.

Varo’s Predictive Round-Ups are just the start. By 2026, experts predict savings tools will adjust automatically based on your cash flow. If you get a bonus, the app might bump up your round-up amount. If your paycheck is late, it might pause. That’s not just automation-it’s intelligence.

Revolut hinted at integrating with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for instant settlement. That could mean round-ups settle in seconds, not hours. And Slash, a new neobank for small businesses, is redirecting 2% cashback from e-commerce sales directly into goal buckets. That’s the future: savings built into how you earn, not just how you spend.

Should You Use Them?

Yes-if you want to save without thinking. If you’re the kind of person who forgets to transfer money, or who feels guilty spending on coffee, these tools remove the friction. You don’t need to be good with money. You just need to spend it.

Start simple. Turn on round-ups. Pick one goal-maybe an emergency fund. Set up a vault. Fund it with your round-ups. Check it once a month. That’s it.

Don’t fall for the hype. Round-ups won’t make you rich. But they’ll help you build a safety net. And that’s more valuable than any bonus.

Final Thought: Save Like a Pro, Not a Perfectionist

You don’t need to budget every dollar. You don’t need to track every coffee. You just need a system that works while you’re busy. Neobank savings tools are that system. They’re not about becoming rich. They’re about becoming secure. Start small. Let the app do the work. And in a year, you’ll look back and wonder why you didn’t start sooner.