Bank of America’s Keep the Change Promotion has been around since 2005, but is worth taking another look at especially after Bank of America has announced that over 8 million customers are enrolled in the program. The promotion allows customer enrolled to have every purchase made with a Bank of America Check Card to be rounded up with the difference transferred to a Bank of America savings account.

While a forced program of savings is always a good idea, the best part of the promotion is that Bank of America will match 100% of the contributions to the savings account for the first three months and continue matching 5% a year thereafter up to a maximum total match of $250 per year. Let’s take a look at how a typical consumers with a check card might benefit:

Bank of America Keep the Change Math

Average Check Card Transactions per Month = 20

Average Automatic Rounded-Off Savings Amount = $0.50

Total Amount Transferred to Savings in a Year = $120.00

Bank of America’s Match for the First Three Months = $30

Bank of America’s Match for the Last Nine Months = $4.50

Total Bank of America Match = $34.50

Effective Savings Rate = 28.8%

The effective savings rate does not take into account the token rate of interest paid on the savings account. In addition, because Bank of America will match up to $250 the effective savings rate could be much higher than the example where only $120 was transferred to the savings account over the course of the year. Another footnote to the Bank of America deal is that the bank will allow up to five checking account per household to participate, which would mean that the total match could be up to $1,250 for a household with multiple check cards used actively.

Related posts:

1. $100 Bank of America Bonus Promotion
2. Flagstar Bank – $100 Gas Card Promotion
3. Bank of America Business Checking Bonus