Bank of America Debit Card

I personally have a bank account with Bank of American and they have a branch near my house. I was also issued a check card. So here is a first hand look at BOA’s check card or debit card (depending on how you want to call it).

Basic Features – Firstly, like all debit cards, you can use that as your ATM card where you can draw money from the ATM machine. You can also use it at check counters to pay your bills. You can choose to use a PIN number or choose “credit” and sign for the transaction. Either way, money will be taken out of your checking account. You also get standard features like free alerts and protection if you card is used unauthorized use.

Keep The Change – The Bank of America Debit Card has a couple of interesting programs and “reward type” features. Firstly, there is the keep the change program. Here is how it works. Each time you something with your Bank of America Check Card, we’ll round your purchase to the nearest dollar amount and transfer the difference from your checking account to your savings account. You get to keep the change and grow your savings. Let’s say you use your debit card for something at the supermarket for $6.67. Your debit card will charge the item as $7.00. The difference will simply be transferred from your checking account into your savings account. BOA will match 100% of the “change” for the first 3 months and 5% thereafter. The “match” (like a 401k match) will be reported as 1099. You can earn up to $250 a year in “change”.

Add it up – BOA also has a shopping portal called Add It Up whereby you could earn up to 20% cash back when you shop with their merchant partners. Below is screen shot of their program.

Verdict – Though I have the Bank of America debit card, I have not really used it and have not signed up for the Keep the Change Program. For me, I prefer to earn points through my credit card. But for those who rather use a debit card rather than a credit card, I think that the BOA check card is one of the better ones around. There is no reward program that requires a fee (and so frequently aren’t nowhere as good as credit card reward programs). Instead, they offer features that I think are simply practical.