Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Bank of America scores some brownie points

Along with thousands of other Massachusetts natives, I've ridden the BayBank to BankBoston to Fleet to Bank of America train, in which whatever bank I'm using gets bought up by a bigger bank every couple of years, and my account automatically switches over. I'm not a fan of Bank of America due to their lousy customer service and mysterious fees that occasionally appear, but since they have ATMs everywhere, that convenience makes up for their flaws. Anyways, here are a couple of programs B of A customers can take advantage of:

1. Museums on Us. During the month of May, show your B of A ATM or credit card and receive free admission for you and one guest at many nearby museums. Maybe I'll actually go to the Isabella Stuart Gardener museum for the first time.

2. Keep the Change. Sign up for this free service and every time you use your debit card, the amount you spend will be rounded to a dollar and the change deposited into your savings account. Those little increments can add up to significant savings, provided that you don't dip into your savings account during the last week of every month, like some people I know (i.e. ME).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am not drinking the kool-aid on the keep the change program - essentailly a scheme to get you to transfer your cash from checking to savings. Why is this a great idea? They do add up to significant savings, but only as significant deductions from your checking. This is worth brownie points? Pleasse don't give them away for free and create inflation in the brownie point market, they are too yummy.

eileen said...

For financially irresponsible spendthifts like me, Keep the Change is helpful because moving money, even in small amounts, from my checking account into my savings account makes it much more likely to go towards personal goals (international travel, eventual Mini Cooper ownership) instead of disappearing on frivolities like beer and concert tickets.
For more financially responsible/organized people, it probably isn't much of a benefit.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't BoA also match some of the $ you end up banking in the keep the change program? That alone would make it worth it.

Let me know if you want company to the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. I once had to write a paper on that place, but seeing as it was so far away by T, I wrote it based on their website and brochure. I still feel bad about that and vowed that one day I will actually go there for real.

eileen said...

They match for the first three months, then 5% after that.

Let's go to the ISG museum after work next week- I've also never been...although I never pretended that I went and then wrote a paper on it :)

Lisa Kate said...

The ISG is my favorite art museum in Boston!! I am obsessed with Mrs. Jack. I have been so many times and am a member. I recommend lunch at the cafe and evening concerts in the hall. Read the letters from her gossip-worthy "admirers" (especially Crawford's), and judge for yourself why Sargeant's portrait of her was so scandalous for its time (don't miss her signature 37 pearls). And from the third floor windows looking down at the garden, just look up - perhaps a resident artist will wave at you and you will imagine you are the inspiration for his next piece! Pause at Anders Zorn's portrait and imagine her emerging from her Italian villa, the Venetian Renaissance Palace la Palazzo Barbaro, after which the central garden was modelled, inviting her guests to view the fireworks over the canal - la Donna Isabella. Find out what made her "the sensation of the party," in every party featured in Town Topics. Sketch or write (pencil only) on a stone bench in the garden. And ask the curators about the stolen paintings and they will tell you...nothing. They are not allowed to comment. Drop a penny and make a wish in the fountains. Don't miss the Blue Room on your way out. It's my favorite. Enjoy!

"Yet this woman is an idol, for whose service man labors, which he has decked with the jewels of a queen...these are what have made possible this woman, this living orchid, unexpected masterpiece of this civilization." (Mrs. Jack, p171)

eileen said...

Oooh, thanks for the tips, Lis. Now I'm really excited to go!