Bank of America, even though they’re a huge soulless corporate bank, still rocks. They give a very good impression of caring about me above and beyond the normal predatory “caring” corporations have for their customers these days.
Proof?
Well, how about their Keep the Change promotion? I just signed up yesterday. I’ve gone over it and I don’t really see how it helps them, other than encouraging their customers to save money and keep that money in BofA, which, of course, they can use to make more money, but that’s what banks do.
It works like this: First, you’ve got to have a checking account, a debit card, and a savinngs account with BofA (there’s the lock-in). When you make a purchase on your debit card, the amount is rounded up to the nearest whole dollar, and the “extra” amount is then credited to your savings account. So, for instance, my Starbucks breakfast this morning was $5.30, so BofA will transfer the $0.70 that would make that an even $6.00 into my savings account.
On top of that, BofA is going to match all of my “Keep the Change” transfers for the first 3 months. After that, they’ll match 5% of my transfers every year, which is like getting an extra 5% interest on that money. Of course, there’s fine print; they only credit the matching funds annually, so I won’t be getting lots of compound interest on that money. But what the hell; it’s still money I wouldn’t ordinarily see.
You see how it works; it’s like a change jar for your debit card. I already save my pocket change daily or thereabouts. This is just going to accelerate that savings. I think it’s a great idea, and it’s just the latest example of why my bank rocks and rolls.
Egad… this sounds like a commercial, don’t it? But, honestly, I can’t think of anything cynical to say about this promotion.
Do other banks have similar programs? I’m curious. This is the first I’ve heard of something like this.