Bank of America's Keep the Change Program: An E-Piggy Bank

Have you seen the Visa commercial, where patrons of a coffee shop move in a synchronized manner until one of them decides to pay for their items with cash? I was quick to judge Visa and wonder when cash became the less desirable form of payment at a retail location. Then I realized just how hypocritical I was being. At this moment, I have a crumpled one dollar bill in the change pocket of my wallet. That's it. That is all the cash I carry with me. From getting my morning coffee to filling up my car at the gas station, I debit everything. As a result of this habit, which is not new for me by any means, my plastic Coke change bottle has been on empty for over a year.

Don't worry. I am still saving my change. Just in more efficient way. Enter Bank of America's Keep the Change program. I hate sounding like a promoter of corporate programs, especially when large financial institutions are involved, but I actually love this one. It's an electronic piggy bank for those of us too busy to stop by the ATM and carry cash.

It's super simple. First, some must haves. You need to have both a checking and a savings account with BOA. You need to sign up for the Keep The Change program (you can call the customer service folks, enroll online or stop by a local branch). There is no fee for the service, and it is not automatically added to your account. Second, here is how it works. Each time you use your debit card to make a purchase, BOA will automatically round up your purchase to the full dollar amount. For example, let's say your Starbuck coffee costs $4.50 and you use your debit card to pay for it. BOA will deduct $4.50 from your checking account for your Starbuck and an additional $0.50 for your savings account. It keeps your change - get it? At the end of each day, BOA calculates how much change you would have saved. They take that amount and automatically transfer it from your checking account to your savings account. You can track your savings online - the bank keeps a total conveniently placed on the left hand side of the screen, so you can always know how much you are saving to-date each month.

Need a reason to sign up for Keep the Change? BOA has that covered. For the first three months, the bank will match your change at 100%. This means double the savings for you. After three months, BOA will contribute 5% of your saved change to your account on annual basis. Think of it this way - why wouldn't you let someone else put extra change into your piggy bank?

Now, I mentioned that I always use my debit card, right? This is why this program works so well for me - money goes into my savings via smaller amounts throughout the months so I barely even notice. But at the end of the month, there are $40 extra in my savings. That doesn't seem like much to you? Really? Well, it is a lot to me. And it certainly is $40 more than I have the discipline to save every month.

Overall, I rate this program very highly and definitely recommend it. Bank of America makes enrolling and staying in this program convenient and simple. And those are my two favorite things when it comes to saving some extra cash.

For more info, go to Bank of America's Keep the Change page.