Keep the Change?

Yesterday on our weekly ride to Shady Side for sailboat race, OAO and I heard (again) Bank of America’s commercial for their “Keep the Change” program.

Here’s the skinny – when you use of BoM check card, the bank will round up your purchase to the nearest dollar amount and then transfer the difference into your savings account. Apparently, it’s a way to help you save money. According to the BoM website, the bank will match 100% of your Keep the Change savings for the 1st 3 months. Then, they’ll match 5% of your contributions up to $250 annually. It’s important to note that this match of funds occurs only within 8 weeks of your enrollment anniversary. The bank will transfer your rounded-up money daily into savings, but only the match annually.

Huh.

Let me think about this for a minute.

When I use my debit card, I don’t GET any change back… it’s all electronic. So it’s not possible for me to carry around a pocket-full of pennies if I’m using my debit card. How am I keeping change when I don’t get any change back?

To save ME money, the bank will automatically transfer said change from my checking account into my savings account daily. But, I only get my match annually. Where is that money getting stored in the meantime… oh, right, probably in an interest baring account for BoM. That would make sense. To save me money, you get to make more money. I see.

Most banks limit the number of transfers from and/or to your accounts on a monthly basis. To help you keep the number low, they charge fees for the service. In BoM’s case, you get nailed with a $3 fee for excessive transferring. Does that apply to their amazing Keep the Change program? Or are those fees waived? It’s not clear on any of the literature posted on their website.

Plus, BoM will send me a 1099 so I can pay taxes on their match. Sure, Uncle Sam wants his cut. Uncle Sam ALWAYS wants his cut.

How exactly is this supposed to save me money?

Who is this program supposed to benefit?

Oh, and the term “Keep the Change” is trademarked and patent pending. Does that mean I’ll have to pay a fee to Bank of America every time I pay someone in cash and tell them to “keep the change?”

Speaking of change, everytime I hear the “Keep the Change” commercial, I’m reminded of a couple of SNL skits about a bank with the sole purpose of making change. There is a site that archives all the SNL scripts. I just had to cut and paste the text here.

First Citiwide Change Bank I
Customer #1…..Jan Hooks
Bank Representative…..Jim Downey
Customer #2…..Kevin Nealon

Customer #1: I needed to take the bus, but all I had was a five-dollar bill. I stopped by First Citiwide, and they were able to give me four singles and four quarters.

Bank Representative: We will work with the customer to give that customer the change that he or she needs. If you come to us with a twenty-dollar bill, we can give you two tens, we can give you four fives – we can give you a ten and two fives. We will work with you.

Customer #2: I went to my First Citiwide branch to change a fifty. I guess I was in kind of a hurry, and I asked for a twenty, a ten, and two fives. Their computers picked up my mistake right away, and I got the correct change.

Bank Representative: We have been in this business a long time. With our experience, we’re gonna have ideas for change combinations that probably haven’t occurred to you. If you have a fifty-dollar bill, we can give you fifty singles. We can give you forty-nine singles and ten dimes. We can give you twenty-five twos. Come talk to us. We are not going to give you change that you don’t want. If you come to us with a hundred-dollar bill, we’re not going to give you two-thousand nickels unless that meets your particular change needs. We will give you.. the change.. equal to.. the amount of money.. that you want change for!

[ SUPER: "At First Citiwide Change Bank, Our business is making change" ]

Bank Representative: That’s what we do.

First Citiwide Change Bank II
Bank Representative…..Jim Downey
Customer #3…..Nora Dunn
Customer #4…..Phil Hartman

Bank Representative: A lot of people don’t realize that change is a two-way street. You can come in with sixteen quarters, eight dimes, and four nickels – we can give you a five-dollar bill. Or we can give you five singles. Or two singles, eight quarters, and ten dimes. You’d be amazed at the variety of the options you have.

Customer #3: I was driving through Pennsylvania on the tollway, and to save time I was using the exact-change lanes. I had just run out of quarters, and I was getting a bit nervous when I spotted a sign for a Citiwide branch at the next exit. Let me tell you, it was a pretty good feeling.

Bank Representative: I have had people come in with wrinkled ten-dollar bills to exchange for new crisp bills to put in birthday cards. We can handle special requests like that, usually in the same day.

Customer #4: I’d just returned from a business trip to London, and all the cash I had was a five-pound note. Citiwide wasn’t able to convert it to dollars, but they did give me four guineas, two crowns, four shillings, and ten pence.

Bank Representative: All the time, our customers ask us, “How do you make money doing this?” The answer is simple: Volume. That’s what we do.