Keep the Change Check Card
from Bank of America
Featured FiDeal
Save More Automatically with Keep the Change
Every few years, someone in the national spotlight – congressman, economist, analyst – claims its time to say goodbye to the penny, leaving Lincoln’s mug only to the Fiver. Bank of America wouldn’t mind. The uber-bank has already said farewell to coins with its Keep the Change program.
Try Keep the Change for... an easy way to boost your savings.
Launched in 2005, Keep the Change is an interesting and perhaps effective gimmick to get lazy Americans to save more. (It’s also an even greater gimmick to push more electronic transactions and capital.)
Here’s how it works: Use a Bank of America Check Card to make a purchase (PIN or signature). If it’s $3.54, Bank of America rounds up the charge to $4.00 while depositing the $0.46 into a linked savings or money market account. The company matches your contributions for the first 3 months and then 5% thereafter for a maximum annual match of $250.
It’s not all good news. Rewards Check Cards – airline miles or other – are not applicable. Additionally, the matching funds are reported on form 1099 to the IRS – that means they are taxed as income.
It gets a little worse. Bank of America’s savings accounts are among the lowest when it comes to interest rates, but they are compensating for that fault by handing you the matching dollars.
All in all, a good program to encourage savings. But, after the 3 month matching period, you should probably find somewhere else to stash your electronic change.
About Keep the Change Check Card
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Keep the Change Check Card Reviews
I love keep the change. It is much eaiser just to round everything up when I am balancing my check book. Not only that, my savings just keeps growing and growing. This is one of the best features BOA offers.
I signed up for Keep The Change with my wife under a student checking account about a year ago. Keep the change works very well by saving the small amounts left over from purchases and placing them into a savings account. I was not impressed by the minimum limits on balances for the Keep the Change account ($20.00). This ended up negating all of our change kept over the entire year when we t…ransferred too much money out of the account. It is an excellent tool for those who purchase many small items, but does not add up to much when you use the card primarily for bills or large purchases.
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I LOVE Keep the Change! My husband and I started doing this right after we got married two and a half years ago. We've saved quite a bit of money so far that we probably wouldn't have otherwise saved. It's such a great idea - the same idea as saving your change in a jar at the end of the day. Since we don't use cash much anymore, this definitely makes sense. I'll be keeping this program on my a…ccount!
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I use my debit card a lot since it's more convenient than carrying cash, so I liked this Keep the Change concept. After my first year, I earned about $70 from Bank of America. Definitely a nice treat to show up on my account balance! The only thing that I didn't like is that since the money is carried over to the Keep the Change account automatically, sometimes I have a tough time estimating ho…w much money is actually currently in my account. Using the online Bank of America services, it's pretty easy to transfer the money back from your Keep the Change account to your regular one though.
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Keep the Change is a great idea for those of us who can't seem to actually put aside money for saving. When I enrolled for the program I quickly wished that even when I spent cash at a store, that the change they gave me went into my savings. I would have to say however, that sometimes when money was tight that the transferred money was kind of a hassle because I would have to then transfer t…he money back in to my checking account. I think though if you have a steady job and you aren't scraping by every month and counting pennies, then this program is definitely beneficial. There are times it transfers more than just change though. Sometimes it transfers more than a dollar and then some change so it is kind of confusing. It is as though the software they use for the program rounds up the dollar or something.
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It's sad to say but the Keep the Change Program is the only way I Save money, I save about $30 to $40 every 3 months.
I tie my saving account to the checking account. If you would to save but don't have the will power to do it this is the account for you.
I've been a Bank of America customer for a while now, and when they came out with the Keep the Change program I jumped on it. For the first few months, they match all your savings 100%, so if you use your card often it's worth it. In my first 3 months I saved about 100 bucks. They don't give you your money until you've been signed up for a year, but I can't wait till that day comes!
Great offering. Bank of America will add matching funds to your savings accounts. Now instead of spending it at McDonalds on a $1 item, it's in my savings account waiting for a rainy day. In the course of a year I usually have about $300, which goes towards a special indulgence.
Love keep the change, I use it at gas stations all the time for the .25 cent gum i always buy in the morning. Great customer service. Use it online all the time as well. Can create vcc numbers thru it as well. So its A+++ in my book.
I have had keep the change checking for almost 6 months now and in general, I think it's a great idea. I've already saved over 25 dollars with a card I barely use. Plus, the fact that BOA matchs 100% of the money from the first three months and then 5% later is really great. I was annoyed when I realized about 3 months into the service that the money was coming out of my account, but as a whol…e I think its a really great way to make sure I am saving.
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