Bank of America has introduced an 'electronic change jar' which automatically rounds-up customer spending on debit cards and routes the change into a savings account.
When a customer signs up for Keep the Change, the amount of every purchase they make with a Bank of America debit card is automatically rounded up to the nearest whole dollar and transferred from their current account into their savings account at the end of the day. For example, when purchasing a coffee with a debit card, the difference between the $2.85 cost and $3.00 - or 15 cents - would be transferred electronically.
As an added incentive, Bank of America will match 100 percent of the Keep the Change transfers for the first three months. After that the bank will contribute five percent a year. The maximum match is $250 annually.
Diane Morais, deposits and debit products executive at Bank of America. "It's like an electronic change jar. People can now turn those everyday purchases for groceries, gas and meals into a simple way to save."