For several years, I have been rounding up when I pay bills. If the electric bill is $42.81, I pay $43. Then I let them worry about crediting me nineteen cents. My original reason for doing this was to simplify my bank statement by only using whole dollar amounts… but it didn’t work.
My health insurance deducts automatically and always an amount that includes cents. I would gladly let them round up, like I do with electricity, but I don’t have that option when they extract the amount directly from my checking. When I use my debit card to buy a book from Amazon, I see the same problem. And though I make purchases often from Amazon, they don’t have a system to maintain my small credit from one purchase to another.
Bank of America has introduced a program called Keep The Change where they solve the debit example above. They round up on every debit purchase and deposit the remainder into your savings account.
If only they extended this to all transactions (including that pesky health insurance transfer), I’d be in. And I’m not even a BofA customer.
What a cool idea. Shay and I are looking for new banks, and BofA is right across the steet from us. They may just get the motherlode of McNeill banking. Which for them would read: Piddly.