Keep the Change turns small change into savings automatically

Keep the Change is a Bank of America savings program that rounds up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and moves the difference into a linked savings account. If you buy coffee for $3.47, the program rounds to $4.00 and transfers $0.53 to savings. The rounding happens automatically each time you swipe your debit card, and you control whether the program is on or off.

The program is free to join if you have a Bank of America checking account and a linked savings account. There are no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirement, and no limit on how many transactions you can round up. You can pause or cancel the program at any time through your online banking portal or mobile app.

Key Takeaways

  • Keep the Change rounds debit card purchases up to the nearest dollar and moves the difference to your savings account automatically.
  • The program is free and works only with debit card transactions, not credit cards, checks, or online purchases.
  • You need both a checking account and a savings account at Bank of America to use the program.
  • You can turn the program on or off anytime through your online banking or mobile app without penalty.
  • Most people save between $5 and $25 per month, depending on how often they use their debit card.

How the rounding and transfers work

Every time you use your Bank of America debit card to make a purchase, the system checks whether the amount ends in cents. If it does, the program rounds up to the next dollar. The rounded-up amount is transferred from your checking account to your linked savings account, usually within one business day.

The program only works with debit card transactions at the point of sale. Online purchases, bill payments, ATM withdrawals, checks, and transfers do not trigger rounding. If you make five debit purchases in a day, you get five separate roundups. If you make none, nothing happens—there is no charge for having the program active.

The money goes into whichever savings account you link to Keep the Change when you set it up. You can change the linked account anytime, but only one savings account can receive the roundups at a time. The transferred money stays in your savings account and earns whatever interest rate that account currently pays.

What you need to set up Keep the Change

You must have an active Bank of America checking account and a Bank of America savings account. Both accounts need to be in your name. You cannot link a savings account from another bank, and you cannot use a money market account or certificate of deposit instead of a savings account.

To activate the program, log into your Bank of America online banking portal or open the mobile app, find the Keep the Change option (usually under Savings or Tools), and select the savings account where you want roundups to go. The program turns on immediately. You can manage it from the same place: pause it, resume it, or change which savings account receives the transfers.

There is no paperwork to sign and no waiting period. If you do not have both a checking and savings account yet, you will need to open them first. Bank of America offers several checking and savings account types, each with different features and minimum balance requirements.

How much you typically save with Keep the Change

The amount you save depends entirely on how often you use your debit card and the dollar amounts of your purchases. Someone who makes ten $5 purchases per week will round up $0.50 each time, totaling roughly $26 per month. Someone who makes three $20 purchases per week will round up $0.60 each time, totaling roughly $7.80 per month.

The program works best if you use your debit card for everyday purchases—coffee, groceries, gas, lunch—rather than large transactions. A $100 purchase rounds up only $0.01, while a $3.50 purchase rounds up $0.50. Many people find the savings modest but meaningful because it happens without effort or conscious decision-making.

You can see your roundup history and total savings in your online banking account. Bank of America shows each roundup transaction separately, so you can track exactly how much you have moved to savings over any time period.

Pausing or stopping Keep the Change

You can turn off the program anytime through your online banking portal or mobile app. There is no penalty, no waiting period, and no requirement to explain why. If you pause it, roundups stop immediately, but any money already transferred to your savings account stays there.

If you turn the program back on later, it resumes working the same way. You can pause and resume as many times as you want. Some people turn it off during months when they need extra cash in checking, then turn it back on when their balance recovers.

If you close your checking account or your linked savings account, Keep the Change stops working automatically. You would need to set it up again with different accounts if you want to use the program in the future.

Comparing Keep the Change to other savings methods

Keep the Change is one way to build savings without thinking about it, but it is not the only option. Some people use automatic transfers instead—setting up a standing instruction to move a fixed amount from checking to savings on payday. Others use cash-back programs on credit cards, which can accumulate faster than debit card roundups.

The advantage of Keep the Change is that it requires no decision-making and no discipline. The disadvantage is that the amounts are small and unpredictable. If you spend $100 per week on debit card purchases, you might save $2 to $5 per week, depending on where the cents land. An automatic transfer of $10 per week would build savings faster and more reliably.

Keep the Change works best as a supplement to other savings habits, not as a replacement for them. It is useful if you already use your debit card regularly and want to capture the rounding without extra effort. It is less useful if you rarely use debit cards or if you need to build savings quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Keep the Change work with credit cards?

No. The program works only with Bank of America debit cards. Credit card purchases do not trigger roundups, even if you link a credit card to your account. You must use your debit card at the point of sale for the rounding to happen.

What happens if I do not have enough money in checking to cover the roundup?

The roundup will not go through, and you will not be charged a fee. Your debit card transaction will still process normally. The program simply skips that roundup and moves on to the next transaction. You can check your account to see which roundups succeeded and which were skipped.

Can I use Keep the Change with a joint checking account?

Yes, if both account holders agree. Any debit card linked to the joint checking account will trigger roundups. The money goes into the linked savings account, which can be joint or individual depending on how you set it up. Both account holders can see the roundup history in online banking.

Does the money in Keep the Change savings earn interest?

Yes, it earns whatever interest rate your linked savings account currently pays. Bank of America savings account rates vary by account type and change over time. The interest is typically small because the balance is usually modest, but it does accumulate.

Can I move the roundup money back to checking anytime?

Yes. The money in your savings account is yours to use. You can transfer it back to checking, withdraw it, or leave it there. Moving money out does not affect Keep the Change—the program continues to round up new debit card purchases and send them to your savings account.