bank on technabob...

Space Invaders fans, here’s a fun way to save your spare change – if you happen to live in Japan, that is.

This Space Invaders piggy bank looks just like a miniature cocktail table version of the classic arcade shooter. The 1/6th scale game has a tiny little version of the game on a built-in LCD screen. Just drop a 100 yen…

It’s a good week for saving money while playing games. If Tetris and Breakout aren’t your bag, you might want to try something even simpler, like Bankquest or Jinsei Ginko.

It seems that piggy banks that double as tiny gaming machines are quite the happening trend in Japan these days. These simpler banks offer a variety of money-saving experience for the gamer…

Looking for a place to keep all that loose change you’ve been saving up since you gave up on tipping the baristas at the Starbucks? Keep ‘em all in this whimsical piggy bank that chows down on your coinage before it heads deep into its porty, porky belly.

As soon as you put a coin in its mouth, the little…

Those fortunate enough to live in Tokyo have recently sighted lifesize Coca-Cola robots wandering the streets. Now you can own your own miniature version of the wandering Coke robot for your desktop.

Combining robotics, Japanimation and caffeination, the Coca-Cola vending machine robot is the perfect embodiment of all things geeky. If regular Coke is too sugary for your taste, there’s…

Put your cash in this bomb-shaped piggy bank and if you’re not a good saver, you’ll be punished. The electronic piggy bank waits for you to add coins too it every day. If you’re not consistent, it’ll explode, sending coins all over your desktop.

If you don’t add coins each and every day, the bank will start to vibrate, flash…

I think these goofy guys look more like space aliens than monsters, but you get the point. Put your money in the mouth of these Money Monsters and they’ll gulp it down without so much as a “thank you”.

While they might not be polite, that doesn’t mean the Money Monsters aren’t vocal. When you feed them your paper money…

This rather silly invention out of Japan lets you count individual one Yen coins so you can save them up.

The TakaraTomy Life Bank One Yen Counter screws on the top of any bottle, and lets you count up your change.
Now keep in mind that a single Japanese Yen coin is worth just a bit less than a penny,…

Actually, there are no pigs involved in this bank. Rather, just another case of a bizarre gadget from the streets of Japan.

With its oddly misshapen wedge of of a head, Banpresto’s Face Bank is a rather disturbing looking device. Using an object sensor in its eyes, it detects your approaching hand and starts to chow down on any coin…

These piggy banks from i-Kiddo are not only goofy looking, but they’re actually quite tech savvy.

The i-Panda and i-Piggy digiBanks automatically identify each coin placed in the bank, then calculate the total and display them on the bank’s LCD screen. The banks can also be programmed with savings goals and can play celebratory musical tracks when milestones are met.…

This cleverly designed piggy bank looks like a giant key from a computer keyboard, emblazoned with word “Save.”

The oversize plastic computer key (4.5″ x 4.5″ x 2.25″) serves as a constant reminder to save those spare coins you found under the couch cushion. The Auto Save Bank is just $10 from Uncommon Goods.

These wacky alarm clocks ensure that you’ll build up your savings by forcing you to put money in it before the alarm will shut off.
The colorful cube clock will keep beeping incessantly each morning until you feed it some coins. While I’m sure this would get really annoying, really quickly, it could be good for those of you who…

A couple of years back, a new regulation was passed that enabled banks to remotely deposit checks by scanning digital images, then transmitting the images to the originating bank. Now that digital images of checks are considered to be just as good as paper checks, it looks like this technology is starting to hit homes.

USAA is now offering the…